SYNONYMY OF VIREO VICINIOR 517 



studied, but, as far as kuown, they do not differ from those o!* 

 the Blue-headed Greenlet. The nest and eggs, taken by Aiken 

 in Colorado, are described by Henshaw as substantially identi- 

 cal with those of soUiarius taken in New England. The nest 

 was composed of soft cottony substances, bound exteriorly 

 with strips of bark and other fibrous material, and lined with 

 fine dried grasses, and the eggs were white, spotted, chiefly at 

 the larger end. with reddish-brown. 



A pair of these birds which I shot at Fort Whipple offered 

 one of the many touching spectacles it has been my fortune to 

 witness, in evidence of the devotion birds so often show to their 

 mates. The female, fatally wounded by my shot, crouched upon 

 a slender twig, where she balanced with the greatest difficulty, 

 breathing heavily in dire distress; and I could plainly perceive a 

 fold of intestines protruding from a rent in the abdomen. Her 

 mate in a few moments came flying to her assistance. He 

 alighted by her side, caressed her tenderly with his beak, and 

 seemed to beseech her, in low, sympathetic accents, to fly the 

 fatal spot. She gathered herself for the effort, but only flut- 

 tered fainting to the ground, where she lay extended in the 

 agonies of death, with her bowels trailing in the dust; but her 

 brave mate, heedless of my presence, never left her side, nor 

 ceased his fond attentions, till he shared her fate. Let us 

 imagine them still together beyond the dark portals! Such 

 things are sad enough, and seem almost shameful, to look back 

 upon : it is the blot on a bright shield to remember, that quite 

 like tragedies are of incessant recurrence, and inseparable from 

 the practical pursuit of ornithology. Let us take what comfort 

 we may in the reflection that such acts of violence, committed 

 by men, are in the strict and evident order of Nature, who has 

 ordained ihat animals shall torture, murder, and devour each 

 other forever. 



The Gray Greenlet 



Tirco Ticinior 



Vireo vlcinior, Coues, Pr. Phila. Acad. 1866, 75 (descr. orig. Fort Whipple, Ariz.).-£d. Rev. 

 AB. 1866, 361, 6g.—Ooop. Am. Nat. iii. 1869, 410.— Elliot, " Illust. BNA. pi. 7 ".—Coop. 

 B. Cal. i. 1870, 125.— Coues, Key, 1872, 122.— U. B. & R. NAB. i. 1874, 393, pi. 17, f. 7.— 

 Hensh. List B. Ariz. 1875, Ibl.—IIensh. Zool. Expl. W. 100 Morid. 1875, 227 (habits).— 

 Steph. Bull. Nntt. Club, iii. n. 1, Jan. 1878, 42 (Californiii).*— S««y. Bull. Nutt Club, iii. 

 n. 2, April, 1878, 93 (Gila River). 



Gray Tirco, Coues, L c. 



Arlzon.i Vlrco, U. h. c6 Ji. 1. c. ; Hensh. L c 



H.\B. — Arizona and New Mexico. 



* Special paper : — 

 1876. Stephens, F. Vireo vicinior in California. < Bun. Xntt. Ornith. Cluh, 

 iii. D. 1, Jan. 1878, p. 42. 



