162 



LAND-BIRDS. 



where than in an elm, poplar, or buttonwood tree. It is 

 always pensile, but Audubon speaks of one fastened to the 

 trunk of a tree, in which situation I have never found it, so 

 far as I remember. The eggs of the Warbling Vireo are white, 

 with a few " reddish black " or brown spots at the larger end, 

 and average about .77x .58 of an inch. A set of four or five 

 is laid near Boston in the first week of June. 



c. The Warbling Vireos reach eastern Massachusetts in 

 the second week of May, and leave it in the same week of 

 September. They are common in many parts of our State, 

 and I have seen them in northern New Hampshire ; but in 



some localities they 

 are very rare. 

 Though they do 

 not, I think, show 

 quite so much fa- 

 miliarity towards 

 man (at least here), 

 as some authors 

 have represented, 

 yet they are cer- 

 tainly to be found, 

 to some extent, in cities, towns, villages, and thickly populated 

 neighborhoods — for instance, among the elms of Boston Com- 

 mon. Though occasionally seen in the haunts of the Yellow- 

 throated Vireos (^), they seem to be particularly fond of rows 

 of, or solitary, elms, poplars, and basswood trees — particu- 

 larly those beside roads or near houses. They usually remain 

 among the higher branches as they search for insects ; and, on 

 account of their size and quiet colors, they might easily be 

 overlooked, were it not for their music. 



d. Their ordinary notes are like those of the Red-eyed 

 Vireos, but less loud and querulous. Their song is exquisitely 

 sweet, and, though quite distinct, recalls vividly that of the 

 Purple Finch (§ 15, III). Dr. Coues, in speaking of the War- 

 bling Vireo, says that " its voice is not strong, and many birds 

 excel it in brilliancy of execution ; but not one of them all 

 can rival the tenderness and softness of the liquid strains of 



Fig. 6. Warbling Vii-eo. (i) 



