VIREONID^E — THE GREENLETS — YIREOSYLVIA. H'J 



variety, if not species, xiiider the name of V. Swainsoni, and differs in 

 snudler size, more de})ressed liill, und in tlie second quill being much shorter 

 than the sixth, instead of equal to it or longer. Tlie colors generally are 

 paler, and the upper mandible is black, not horn-color. The better to 

 illustrate the differences, we give the heads of both, and add the outline of 

 a wing of Sivainsoni, for comparison with that of V. gilva. 



Tliis lively and familiar little songster arrives near San Diego about 

 April Idth, and towards the middle of May reaches Puget's Sound, resid- 

 ing through the summer in nearly all the intermediate country, frequent- 

 ing the deciduous trees along the borders of streams and prairies, coming 

 into gardens and orchards with familiar confidence as soon as cultivation 

 has reclaimed the wilderness. 



Their cheerful and A'aried song may be heard from morning till night, 

 and frequently until late in the autumn, as they industriously seek for their 

 insect prey among the Ijranches, occasionally interrupting the melody by 

 swallowing a victim. They even build their nests in the shade-trees along 

 the streets of busy cities, or in parks ; and though their low warbling attracts 

 little attention from the hurrying crowd, they sing on, sure of an audience 

 from some more observant lover of nature's nmsic. 



Their nest is built pendant in the forks of a branch high above the 

 ground, sometimes as much as one hundred feet, and is composed of grasses 

 and vegetable fibres neatly inter\voven, lined with the silk and down from 

 plants. The eggs are white, with a few blackish spots of various sizes, and 

 straggling lines near the larger end. (Nuttall.) 



In the autumn they wander about in families, feeding partly on berries, 

 and uttering a harsh note of complaint or alarm if closely ^\'atclled, as do 

 the old birds when the nest is approached. They probably lea\-e the State 

 in October. 



Vireosylvia solitaria, Vieillot. 



THE BLUE-HEADED FLYCATCHER. 



Musclcapa solitaria, Wilson, Am. Orn. 11. 1.SI0, 14.3 ; pi. 17. f. 6. 



Yireo solitarius, ViEiLLOT, Nouv. Diet. 1817. — Acduuon, Oru. Biog. I. 1831, 147 ; V. 

 1839,432; pi. 23. Ib. Syn. 1839. In. Birds Amer. IV. 1842, 144; ])1. 239. — Nut- 

 tall, Man. I. 1832, 3U.i. — Baird, P. R. Rep. IX. Biiils, 340. — IIkekmanx, X. vi. 

 .55. — Cooper and Suckley, XII. iii. Zool. of AY T. 189. 



Vireo Cassini, Baird, Birds N. Anier. IX. 340; pi. 75, f. 1. — Xantls, Pr. A. N. S. 

 1858. 



Si'. Cii.\i;. Spurious primary very small, not one fourth tlii' second, wliieli is lonjier 

 than the si.^tli. Top and sides of the head and upper part of neck dark bluish-ash ; rest of 

 upper parts clear oli\-e-green. A white ring round the eye, interrupted in the anterior can- 



