HUTTON'S VIREO 243 



structure is built entirely of Spanish moss, the first strands being woven on 

 both sides of the chosen crotch, with loose ends hanging down ; as the building 

 goes on these hanging ends are woven together at the bottom and the nest 

 begins to take shape. As the structure progresses the moss that goes to build 

 it i)ecomes finer and finer and each strand is woven in with a weaving motion 

 of the bill. When the nest will support the weight, each bird, after it has placed 

 the material it has brought, pops in and works with feet and body to round 

 out and cup the structure. 



Most of the material for the nest is collected within a radius of 35 to 50 yards 

 of the nest, but seldom in the immediate vicinity of the site and never from the 

 same tree. * * * Building progresses slowly or rapidly, as the weather 

 permits. I noted one pair commence and complete a nest in about foiir days ; 

 normally a week, two, or even a greater length of time is required on account 

 of the frequent showers we have in March and April. Sometimes a few days 

 elapse between the completion of the nest and the depositing of the first egg, 

 but usually the female commences to lay and does so daily until the setting 

 is complete. Incubation is Ik- -un at once. * * * 



The nest is usually built Inick from some open or clear space. It is almost 

 useless to look in the first frijige of trees about the clearing; usually the nest 

 is to be found in the second or third row of trees from the opening. The only 

 exception I have ever noted was a nest in a live oak in the middle of an open 

 pasture. Although the tree was fairly thick, the nest was deserted before an 

 egg was laid. * * * The nest Is placed from 7 to 25 feet up, and well out 

 at the end of a branch, usually very well concealed. As a matter of fact unless 

 discovered building, the nest is almost impossible to locate. On one occasion 

 I discovered a nest by the fact that its occupant, presumably the male, was 

 singing while on the nest. I judged this to be a rather uncommon occurrence. 

 The nest blends so well with its surroundings that sometimes, even though I have 

 formerly located the nest, I have had difficulty in locating it again. 



All his nests but one were placed in live oaks ; one "was located in 

 a small live oak tree about seven feet from the ground. It would have 

 been impossible to have seen it from any angle except directly above, 

 unless led to it by the birds. Fronds of Spanish moss hung all about 

 it, part of one frond being woven into one side of the nest. * * * 

 An unusual nest was one located in a manzanita bush under a live oak." 



Though Hutton's vireo may show a preference, in California at 

 least, for the evergreen oaks as nesting sites, it also nests in some 

 other trees, shrubs, or saplings. Mr. Dawson (1923) mentions a nest 

 in a bay tree and two in willows. Grinnell and Linsdale (1936), at 

 the Point Lobos Reserve, found tw'o nests in ceanothus and two in 

 J3ines, none over 7 feet from the ground. 



Mrs. Wheelock (1904) says that "in the valleys and foothills of 

 California the Hutton Vireo builds its nest among the branches of 

 the scrub oaks." 



Thomas D. Burleigh (1930) found two nests in western Washington, 

 one near Kirkland and one near Tacoma, both in Douglas hrs; one 

 was "35 feet from the ground at the outer end of a limb of a fir, 

 and was built entirely and compactly of light green usnea moss, 

 lined well with fine grasses" ; the other was a similar nest and similarly 

 located, 25 feet up. There is a set of eggs in my collection, taken 



