230 BULLETIN 197, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



fine rootlets and grass; yet the construction of the actual nest is com- 

 posed of larger sticks, grasses, and rootlets, forming a very pretty nest, 

 should one remove the outer layer of leaves. The nest was in a bramble 

 thiclvet where an old limb had fallen. 



"I have found this bird nesting along a drainage ditch in Allen 

 Gray wood, which is composed of some 10,000 acres of virgin timber. 

 I have found them nesting deep into these woods, but always selecting 

 a site where the growth was greatest, yet near a partial opening in 

 the woods." 



There are nine nests of the white-eyed vireo in the Thayer collec- 

 tion in Cambridge that vary considerably in location, size, and com- 

 position. They were placed in various small trees and bushes at 

 heights varying from 26 inches to 5 feet. The largest nest was taken 

 by Arthur T. Wayne at Mount Pleasant, S. C. ; it measures 3 inches 

 in outside diameter and 3% in height ; the inside diameter is 2 inches 

 and the depth of the cup 2 inches ; it is prettily made of various plant 

 fibers and is profusely decorated externally w^ith small dry leaves 

 (apparently green when added), delicate strips of thin, buffy inner 

 bark, soft woody fibers, spider cocoons, cotton, wool, etc.; it is lined 

 with very fine grasses and hairlike fibers. There are six nests from 

 Georgia that have the sides and bottoms completely covered with 

 large flakes of soft, thin, bufF-colored inner bark, held in place by 

 spider silk and fine fibers. Another nest, from Bristol, R. L, is 

 similarly decorated with thin strips of light-colored inner bark and 

 the rim is tightly bound witli wool and cotton. 



Nests mentioned in the literature do not differ materially from those 

 mentioned above. They have been found placed in a great variety of 

 trees and shrubs, at heights varying from 1 to 8 feet above the ground, 

 probably occasionally higher. The nests are quite different in shape 

 from the nests of the red-eyed vireo, which are cup-shaped ; the nests 

 of the white-eyed vireo are shaped like an inverted cone, more or less 

 long and narrow and quite pointed at the bottom; the nest that I 

 collected in Rehoboth was not measured, but, judging from my photo- 

 graph, I should think that it was over 4 inches long. 



Eggs of the different races of the cowbird are often found in the 

 nests of this and the other subspecies; in fact, this species is a com- 

 mon victim of the parasite. 



Eggs. — The white-eyed vireo lays three to five eggs to a set, usually 

 four. The eggs are generally ovate, rarely more elliptical or slightly 

 pointed. They are pure, lusterless white and are marked with a few 

 widely scattered small spots or fine dots of dark brown or blackish ; 

 sometimes these dots are so minute and so few as to make the egg 

 appear immaculate ; very rarel}^ there are a few small blotches around 

 the larger end. The measurements of 50 eggs in the United States 

 National Museum average 18.7 by 14.0 millimeters ; the eggs showing 



