400 VIREOS 



dead leaves, lined with stems and sometimes hairs. Eggs : usually 4, 

 white, thinly spotted around lai'gex* end with i-eddish brown. 

 Food. — Insects and their larvse. 



The Bell vireo is a common bird in its range, abounding Id the 

 piiim thickets of Nebraska, dense patches of brush and briers in 

 Kansas, and the tangled mesquite woods of southern Texas. 



Its song, like that of many vireos, is heard all through the hot 

 noonday hours. It resembles that of the white-eye, but leaves off 

 the interrogative eh? after the wlio-are-you f It has a harsh, scold- 

 ing note, Mr. Henshaw says, which it often repeats as it goes 

 through the brush searching for food. 



633.1. Vireo pusillus Coues. Least Virko. 



Adults. — Upper parts gray, faintly tinged with olive on rump, wings, 

 and tail ; w ings with one and sometimes two narrow bars ; lores gray and 

 white; under parts white, sides washed with olive. Young: lores wholly 

 white ; top of head and hind neck pale brown ; back dull green, rump 

 greenish. Length: 4.80-5.2-5, wing 2.10-2.oO, tail 2.03-2.20, bill from 

 nostril .25-.2!), tarsus .70-80. 



Distribution. — Upper and Lower Sonoran zones in Arizona and Califor- 

 nia ; south to Cape St. Lucas and northwestern Mexico. 



Nest. — In bushes, in thickets. Eggs : o or 4, white, lightly dotted with 

 brown, more thickly around the larger end. 



The least vireo is common in southern California in the willow 

 regions and along streams up to the foothills. 



634. Vireo vicinior Coues. Gray Yireo. 



Adults. — Upper parts and sides of head dull gray, with faint tinge of 

 greenish on rump ; lores and orbital ring w hite ; wings brownish with 

 w'ing band indistinct or wanting ; under parts clouded grayish white. 

 Young : like adults, but upper parts with brownish tinge and w ing bar 

 bufPy white. Length : 5.(30-5.75, wing 2.50-2.G0, tail 2.40-2.55. 



Hetnarks. — The gray vireo differs from the plumbeous in its duller, 

 less sharply contrasted coloration and absence of striking' wing bars. 



Distribution. — From western Texas to southern California and from 

 southern Nevada to northwestern Mexico. 



Nest. — In thorny bushes or trees, 4 to 6 feet from the ground, some- 

 times supported underneath or on sides so that it is not pensile ; made of 

 loosely woven coarse grass and mesquite bark lined with fine grasses. 

 Eggs : 8 or 4, white, sparsely marked with irregular spots, chiefly around 

 larger end. 



In the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains Mr. Scott fouud 

 the gray vireo breeding in comparative abundance where the oaks 

 begin at the upper edge of the mesquite. 



Mr. Henshaw found it in New Mexico frequenting rocky hills cov- 

 ered with scanty growth of bushes and scrub. In hunting, he says 

 it takes a middle line between that of the treetop solitary vireos 

 and the low hunting white-eyed group, spending most of its time 



