VIREOS 



105 



WARBLING VIREO 

 Vireosylva gilva gilva (I'icilloi) 



A. O. U. Xumlicr t.j,- See Color VUW 91 



Other Name. — Warbling Greenlet. 



General Description. — Length, sJj inches. Upper 

 parts, greenisli-gray ; under parts, whitish. 



Color. — Adults : Crown and hindneck, plain light 

 mouse-gray or smoke-gray, becoming paler on fore- 

 head; back, shoulders, and lesser wing-coverts similar 

 in color to crown but tinged (usually very faintly) 

 with olive-green ; lower back, rump, and upper tail- 

 coverts, light grayish olivc-yrccn. or smoke-gray tinged 

 with olive-green; wings (except lesser coverts) and 

 tail, deep brownish-gray with pale brownish-gray edg- 

 ings; a stripe of dull grayish-white or brownish-white 

 over the eye and extending considerably beyond it ; 

 sides of head and sides of neck, pale bufify-gray or 

 pale buflfy-brownish ; under parts, dull white centrally, 

 passing into pale buffy-olivc or dull pale huffy-ycllov.'- 

 ish on sides and flanks; under wing-coverts, very pale 

 primrose-yellow or yellowish-white ; bill, horn-brown ; 

 iris, brown; legs and feet, pale bluish-gray. Young 

 (First Plum.\ge): Crown and hindneck, plain pale 

 grayish-buff; back, shoulders, lesser and middle wing- 



coverts, and rump, light buffy -grayish ; wings and tail, 

 as in adults, but greater wing-coverts indistinctly tipped 

 with dull brownish-buff or pale huffy-olive; the stripe 

 over the eye, whitish or buffy-whitish but very indis- 

 tinct, the sides of the head of similar, passing into 

 deeper grayish-buffy on upper part of ear region ; under 

 parts, white. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: On slender, horizontal 

 branches, usually high, sometimes in the extreme top 

 of large elms or other shade trees; a double compact 

 structure, lacking exterior ornamentation of other 

 species, otherwise built of similar material. Eggs: 

 Xormally 4, rarely 5, spotted with sepia, umber, and 

 reddish-brown. 



Distribution, — Eastern temperate North America ; 

 north to Nova Scotia, central Ontario, northern Mani- 

 toba, and southeastern Alberta, west to North Dakota, 

 southeastern Montana. South Dakota, Kansas. Okla- 

 homa, and Te.xas ; breeding from the northern limit 

 of its range to the Gulf States (Florida to Texas); 

 winter home unknown, but south of tlie United States. 



The \\ arblintj V'ireo seems to be especially 

 fond of tall shade trees growing along village 

 streets, but as it works mainly in the tops of 

 the elms, oaks, and majiles, it is much less fre- 

 quently seen than heard. The sign of its pres- 

 ence, far aloft, is a singularly smooth and run- 

 ning warble, composed of seven or eight notes 

 and suggesting the song of the Purple Finch, 

 than which, however, it is much less hurried and 

 more legato in its exectition. Of its general 

 character, J\Ir. Mathews says: "Although, note 

 for note, the first phrase of Chopin's wild but 

 beautiful Iiiiproniptii Fantasia does not corre- 

 spond with this Vireo's song, it cannot be denied 

 that there is a striking similarity in the construc- 

 tion of the two fragments. Both bits of music 

 roll triumphantlv toward a high note in a sort of 



spontaneous ebullition of feeling, and there the 

 matter ends — with the \'ireo; but Chopin goes 

 on, and his sprightly embroidery of tones is ulti- 

 mately succeeded by the substantial form of a 

 slow and dignified melody." 



Though this Yireo is a very persistent singer 

 ( Ralph HotTmann estimates that he repeats his 

 song more than four thousand times a day during 

 the breeding season), there is remarkably little 

 variation in the form and accent of the phrase. 

 Almost invariably it is the same rippling run, 

 delivered with the strongly marked crescendo 

 which Air, Mathews describes. 



In western North America there is a smaller 

 and darker form of this bird, known as the 

 Western, or Swainson's, Warbling Vireo {Vireo- 

 .■ivht'a t/ilra szcainsoni) . 



YELLOW-THROATED VIREO 



Lani vireo flavifrons (I'iciUot) 



\ II. V'. .Xumher l.j.S See Color I'l.itc gi 



Other Name. — Yellow-throated Greenlet. 



General Description. — Length. 6 inches. Upper 

 parts, yellowish-olive and gray : under parts, yellow and 

 white. 



Color. — Adults: Crown, hindneck, and back, plain 



yrllmcisli-oli'L'i- : sides of neck, ear and cheek regions, 

 and sides of chest, plain yellowish olive-green; a stripe 

 over the eye and a spot under it. front portion of 

 cheek region, chin, throat, chest, and breast, canary 

 ycllozv: abdomen, anal region, and under tail-coverts. 



