VIREOS 



109 



\'ireos are likely to be rather deliberate birds 

 in comparison with the Warblers, but the Black- 

 capped \'ireo is decidedly energetic in its move- 

 ments. Furthermore it is the single American 

 member of its faniilv with the head down to the 

 throat black, except for the small white triangular 

 patch running from the eye to the angle of the 

 hill and the forehead. 



The bird seems to have been first described in 

 1 85 1 by Dr. W'oodhouse. who took his specimen 

 near the San Pedro River, 208 miles from San 



Antonio, and later by John J. Clark, natural- 

 ist of the Mexican Uoundary Commission, who 

 found it in Mexico near the locality in which it 

 was seen by Dr. W'oodhouse. Both observers had 

 their attention attracted to the bird by its sharji 

 and unmusical chirp. Its song, Mrs. Bailey savs, 

 is unusually varied for a Vireo, though of the 

 general character of those of the W'hite-eved 

 and Bell's \"ireos, rather than that of the Warb- 

 ling \'ireo. "One song contained a run, and its 

 L'l'-t notes were liquid, loud, and emphatic." 



WHITE-EYED VIREO 



Vireo griseus griseus ( Hixhlocrt) 



.\. O. U. Number (..ii See Color PLnte qi 



Other Names. — White-eyed Greeiilet ; Politician. 



General Description. — Length, 5'4 inches. Upper 

 parts, groeni^li-ohve : under parts, white. 



Color. — Adults; Above, plain greenish-olive or dull 

 olive-green, usually passing into grayish on hindneck ; 

 wings and tail, dusky grayish-brown with light olive- 

 green edgings, the middle and greater wing-coverts 

 rather broadly tipped with pale yellow or yellowish- 

 white, producing two distinct bands across wing; a 

 stfij^c above the lores and a narroiv eye-ring of canary 

 or sulphur-yellow: a dtisky stripe across the lores; 

 ear and under eye regions and sides of neck, grayish- 

 olive or olive-gray; chin, throat, central portion of 

 chest and breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts, dull 

 white, passing into pale yellott.' zcashed icith olive, on 

 sides and flanks, the chest and breast tinged with 

 yellow or grayish (or both), the anal region and 

 shorter under tail-coverts also tinged with yellow ; 

 under wing-coverts pale yellow or yellowish-white ; bill, 

 black ; iris, white ; legs and feet, grayish-blue. Young : 

 Similar to adults, but upper parts, duller and browner ; 

 the stripe above the lores and the eye-ring, grayish- 

 white or brownish-white instead of yellow; chin, throat, 

 and chest, very pale gray or brownish-gray; sides and 

 flanks, pale olive-yellow; iris, brownish (hazel). 



Nest and Eggs. — Xest : In low bush, rarely more 

 than 4 feet up, pensile ; constructed of grass and bark 

 strips and decorated exteriorly with brown or white 

 spiders' nests, bits of rotten wood, or newspaper and 

 rags and lined with fine grass and some hair. Eciis : 

 3 to 5, white, li,ghtly spotted with dark purjjle and 

 chestnut around large end. 



Distribution. — Eastern United States ; breeds from 

 snutheastern Nebraska, southern Wisconsin, New York, 

 and Alassachusetts to central Texas and central Flor- 

 ida ; winters from Texas, Georgia, Florida, and South 

 Carolina through eastern Mexico to Yucatan and 



Guatemala; casual north to Vermont, Ontario, and 

 New Brunswick, and in Cuba. 



K/ 



Drawing by R. I. Brasher 



WHITE-EYED VIREO (5 

 ible little fellow who gives intrude 



The White-eyed Vireo is one of the distinct 

 characters of bird-land — pert, abusive, and sar- 

 castic by turns, but always clever and amusing. 

 Chip-a-7ccc-o, Mr. Torrey very accuratelv 



transliterated his characteristic and contemptu- 

 ous salutation as you approach his thicket, and 

 Whip To]ii Kelly is a word-equivalent which 

 .Mexander Wilson found in use in the South — 



