368 THE ANTHONY VIREO. 



During the winter it mingles freel_\- with llie local troops of Kinglets and 

 Chickadees, and keeps largely to the depths of hr trees. When nio\-ing about 

 silently, it bears a striking resemblance to the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. It is, 

 of course, slightly larger and much more deliberate, lacking especially the 

 wing-flirt of the Kaiserkin. The regiim about the eye is more broadly 

 whitish, and the wing-bars concede a tlif^'erence upon inspectiim, Init the 

 resemblance is so close as altogether to deceive the unwary. 



In spring the bird separates itself frdm its late companions, and begins to 

 explore the budding alders and maples. As the season advances the bird plants 

 itself in some thicket and complains by the hour in strange, monotonous, unvi- 

 reonine notes. The songs varv endlessly in different individuals, but have this 

 in common, that they are a deliberate, unvarying succession of double notes, 



usuallv, but not always, of a slighllx' nasal character. Chu-ivccm chn- 



zucciii chii-ivcciii - - ad lib., is the common type : Pn-cliccan 



pii-cheean pitchccan, is a French variation ; Poo-ci-p' poo-ccp' and 



jiirec' - ji'ircc' - ji'ircc* are types lacking the nasal quality. Only (^nce I heard 

 the notes pr' mounced cjuite rapidly, pc-cg' , pc-cg' , pc-cg' , pc-cg' pc-cg' , ad 

 iiiPiiitnin, <ir rather ad adz'cntum shofgiiiii. Occasionally the lirst syllable is 

 accented: as, ( pcjcbcc-oo or chec-ou,chcc-oo. 



Before he has found a mate Anthonv roams about with some degree of 

 restlessness, shifting his burden of song from place to place witli a view to 

 effect, and uttering now and then coaxing little requests which are certainly 

 meant to win the heart of the lady in hiding. This squeaking note is sometimes 

 raised to the dignit\' of song, at which times it is not unlike the whining of a 

 dog, a most extraordinary sound to come from so tiny a throat. And if one 

 mentions a chirp, or chuck', like that of a Refl-wing Blackbird on a small 

 scale, we liave most of the re]M"esentati\-e efforts of this eccentric genius. 



Onh' one nest of this subspecies has been reported to date, that discovered 

 bv Mr. C. W. Bowles, on ]\mt 21, 1897, near South Tacoma. It was placed 

 nine feet up in a young fir, where it hung sus])ended by two small twigs. 

 Externally it was composed entirely of a long hanging moss, some variety of 

 Vsiica, very thicklv and closely interwoven, being thus conspicuously devoid 

 r)f such exterior decorations as other A'ireos provide. Inside was a carefully 

 prepared bed of fine dry grasses, uprm which lay two eggs half incubated. 



"The female bird was on the nest when first seen and, unlike the majority 

 of our Vireos, flushed the instant the ascent of the tree was attempted. From 

 the nest she flew about twenty feet into a neighboring fir, where she looked 

 down upon our operations with apparently no concern whate\-er. Beyond 

 rearranging her feathers from time to time, there was nothing to indicate 

 that she liad a nest an\'where in the vicinity, as she made no sound or com- 

 ])laint of an\- kind. Neither was there any of the ner\T)us ho])i)ing from 



