VIREONID.-E: VIREOS, OR GREENLETS. 361 



claw, its basal joint adhering to middle ; inner lateral toe nearly free to the base ; claws all 

 much curved. Wing not longer than tail, rounded, of 10 primaries, 1st developed, though only 

 about half as long as 2d, which about equals length of secondaries : point of wing formed 

 by 4th, 5th, and 6th quills. Tail long and fan-shaped, not emarginate, of broad plane feathers 

 widening to their obtuse ends. Head with a long, thin, occipital crest. Sexes dissimilar : ^ 

 glossy-black, with large white wing-patch; 9 dull-colored; young not spotted or streaked. 

 Fine songsters. Nidification arboreal ; eggs colored. 



P. ni'tens. (Lat. nitens, shining.) Shining Fly-snapper. Adult ^: Entirely rich lus- 

 trous black, with steel-blue or greenish reflections. Primaries with a large white space on 

 inner webs. Bill and feet black. Length about 7.50; extent 11.50; wing 3.50-3.70; tail 3.50- 

 4.12; bill 0.40-0.50; tarsus 0.60-0.66; middle toe and claw 0.66-0.75. Adult ?: Crested, 

 like (J. Entirely brownish-gray, paler beneath; wings and tail blackish; white on inner 

 webs of primaries much reduced or extinguished, and in its stead much whitish edging of quills 

 and coverts, tail-feathers, and crissum. Young ^ : Like 9 ! during progress to maturity 

 every gradation between characters of the two sexes is observed. Sometimes nearly all 

 the feathers are skirted with white. Middle and Western Provinces, U. S., from Utah, 

 Nevada, and Colorado southward in Lower California and Mexico. A bird of remarkable 

 characters and appearance, restless and vigilant ; feeds on berries and insects ; sings beautifully. 

 Nest a slight shallow structure, about 4.00 in diameter by 2.50 high, with a cavity about 2.00 

 deep, saddled on a bough, loosely fabricated of twigs, plant- fibres, and down ; eggs 2-5 (rarely 

 single), averaging 0.93 X 0.65, greenish-white, distinctly and profusely speckled with blackish 

 or dark brown. 



Family YIREONID-^ : Vireos, or Greenlets. 



Small dentirostral Oscines, related to Shrikes, with hooked bill, 10 primaries, and exten- 

 sively coherent toes. Bill shorter than head, stout, compressed, distinctly notched and hooked 

 at tip ; rictus with conspicuous bristles ; nostrils exposed, over- 

 hung with a scale, but reached by small bristly erect frontal 

 feathers. Toes soldered at base for the whole length of basal 

 joint of middle one, which is united with basal joint of inner and 

 two basal joints of outer, all these coherent phalanges very short. 

 (Lateral toes unequal in the genus Vireo.) Tarsus equal to 

 or longer than middle toe and claw, scutellate in front, laterally 

 undivided, except at extreme base. Wings moderate, of 10 

 primaries, of which 1st is short (one-half to one-fourth the 2d), Fio. 217. — Warbling Vireo.re- 



or spurious, or apparently wanting (being rudimentary and dis- "*^® ' ^ ™'" ennej.) 

 placed). Size small, under 7.00; coloration simple, mostly and oftenest greenish; young not 

 spotted or streaked. 



Tins family was formerly united with Laniidce, cliiefly on account of resemblance in shape 

 of bill of certain species to that of Shrikes ; but the likeness is never perfect, and there are other 

 more important characters, especially in the structure of the feet, by which the two groups may 

 be discriminated. Vireonidee are peculiar to America; they are a small family of five or six 

 genera and nearly 70 recorded species, of which about five-sixths appear to be genuine. The 

 typical and principal genus, Vireo, containing nearly 30 species, is especially characteristic of 

 North America, though several species occur in the West Indies and Central America ; one 

 genus and species, Laletes osbtirni, is exclusively West Indian ; the rest — Cydorhis, Hylo- 

 philus, Vireolanius, and Neochloe — are, with one exception. South and Central American. In 

 further illustration of the group, I offer some remarks under liead of the only genus with which 

 we have to do in the present connection. 



