180 BIKDS or ILLIXOIS. 



make a deep nest, suspended by its upper edge between the forks 

 of a horizoutnl twig. The eggs are white, generally with a few rod- 

 dish or brown blotches. 



"Quite a number are characterized by having the eyes white, 

 red, or yellow." (Hint. X. Am. B.) 



Analysis of Subgenera. 



Vireosylva. Bill 'ompn'ttsod. narrow; culmcn nnd comnilssuto Btralch'. tho Up ab- 

 riiptly 1 iirvcd (or.lf till is not tlio ciisc.tliero I uo trace of llglit ban 8 on the wlim; ee 

 (•(■cilon "ti"). Kupurollluiy stripe i- ntlnued back to the occiput. No trace o( lliclit bands 

 on tlie wing. No conspl uous ring round tlic eye. 



Lanivireo. Billcompressc , stout; culmoii nrcliod from the base. commlBsure curved. 

 SupiTciliary stripe stoppi gat posterior angle of the eye andcur\inB under It.cDcloslnK 

 the eye hi u conspicuous orbital ring, Inierrupted only In front. Two conspicuous whito 

 band- on the wing. 



Vireo. Bill stout, scarcely compressed, sub-cyllndrlcal. First primary not spurious 

 or, If so, not ucuto. 



Subgenus Vireosylva Bonaparte, 



Vireoti/t<-'a Bosap. Comp. LI t,183S,26. Typo,.VM«ci'copo oUvacea Llss. 



SuBOEX. Chab. "Wings long and pointed, one third or ono fourth longer Ih n the 

 nearly even or slightly rounded tail. First aulU very small loss than one third the 

 second), sometimes apparently wanting. Second auiU longer than the seventh, much 

 longer than the secon'larlos. Tarsi short (scarcely extending .60 of an Inchl : toes rather 

 long. Body Blender and elongated. Bill slender, narrow, straight; the culmen straight 

 for Its basal half, the commissure quite straight; light horn-color, palor beneath. Foot 

 wo k." {Hist. X.Am.B.) 



Common CHAnACXEns. Above plain olive, without distinct wing markings, the plleum 

 more grayish, contrasting more or less strongly with the color of the back; a more or 

 less distinct superciliary stripe of whitish, and beneath It a rather ndistinct dusky streak 

 before and behind the eye. Lower piirts whitish, the cris um and axillar.'^, and some- 

 times Hanks, yellowish. 



A- First primary rudimentary. usually concealed.* 



• In very rare Instances V.olivacea has a well-developed spurious primary, as witness 

 the following,by Mr. Batcheldor,in the "Nuttall Bulletin." vol. 11, pp. 97.98: "On Septem- 

 ber a, 1877, at Bar Harbor, Me., Is ot a Red-eyed Vireo {Vireo olifacrhn] which is curiously 

 abnormal In having wcll-dovelopid spurious first primaries, which measure 1.16 inches 

 In length, the wing measuring 3.15 inches. Through the kindness of Mr. J. A. .\llcn, I 

 have examined the Vircos of this species in thee llectlon of the Museum of Comparative 

 Zoology.and lind In a series of about seventy specimens four more cases of the same 

 variation. They are os f Hows: No. 23,281 ;Coll. M. C. Z.,(rom Coalburgh, W. Va..Mvith 

 spurious primaries on both wings, measuring 1.17 Inches (wing 2.23' : No. 2;).274 (Coll. M. 

 C Z., same locality', with a spurious primary only on the left wing, lueasuring l.I" inches 

 (wing 2.92.) No. 1,185 (Coll. M. C. Z.. from NcwtonvlUe.Mass.). with spurious primaries on 

 loth wings, measuring l.(i9 inches (wing 3.02) ; and No. 1,793 ;Coll. M. C. Z.,same locality), 

 with a spurious prinmry on the left wing, measuring 1.15 Inches, the wing mejisurlng:<.21. 

 It may be well to say that they are not the first primary coverts. but are true spurious 

 primaries, lying In the same idane as the other primaries, and dilTiM'ing from the spurious 

 primaries of other species of this fiinilly cmly in being somewhat smaller. This variation 

 seems particularly Interesting from the fact that the presence or absence of a spurious 

 primary has been to some extent taken as a basis of cln.ssitlcation In this family." 



