STEPHENS'S VIREO 251 



a clump of oak saplings in the lower part of Ramsay Canyon in 

 tlie Huachucas. We did not go near it, for fear of frightening them 

 away and remembering his previous experience with these shy birds. 

 But our caution was of no avail, for, when we visited the spot on 

 May 10, the nest had so completely disappeared that we could not 

 even find a trace of it; evidently the birds had entirely removed it 

 after they learned that we had discovered their secret. 



There are three beautiful nests of this vireo in the Thayer collec- 

 tion in Cambridge that were taken in the Chiricahua Mountains, Ariz. 

 The first, taken by Virgil W. Owen on May 28, 1906, was attached 

 to a horizontal crotch in the topmost branches of an ash tree on the 

 bank of a mountain stream, 16 feet above the water and well-con- 

 cealed in the new foliage. The second was also taken by Mr. Owen, 

 on June 2, 1906 ; it was "18 feet up and near the top of a slender olive 

 oak tree which was growing near a stream" ; it is suspended between 

 small twigs close to a vertical branch and was apparently well shaded 

 by a spray of leaves just above it, which are still attached to the 

 branch; this is the largest of the three nests, measuring externally 3 

 by 21/^ inches in diameter and nearly 3 inches in height ; the internal 

 diameter at the top is about li/o inches, but it is much wider within, as 

 the rim is much incurved ; the inner cup is nearly 2 inches deep. The 

 third nest, taken by H. H. Kimball on June 24, 1908, was 15 feet from 

 the ground, attached to some small twigs under a crotch of a syca- 

 more limb. All these nests were more or less well-concealed in the 

 foliage, much of which came with the nests. 



The nests are all alike in general appearance, looking like cup- 

 shaped, yelloAvish-buff sponges, quite different from any vireos' nests 

 that I have ever seen. At first glance they appear to be made en- 

 tirely of this yellowish-buff down, so completely and profusely are 

 they covered with it, even enclosing the supporting twigs ; the down 

 probably was gathered from oaks, but perhaps from sycamores. But, 

 on close inspection, it appears that this material is strongly reinforced 

 with fine grasses, lichens, and a few green leaves, the whole being 

 firmly bound together with spider silk. The lining consists of very 

 fine yellow grass tops. Altogether, they are works of art. 



In the Chisos Mountains in Texas, Van Tyne and Sutton (1937) 

 saw a pair of Stephens's vireos building a nest that "was swung from 

 a clump of mistletoe which grew in an oak, and was about twelve feet 

 from the ground." 



There is a set of three eggs in my collection, taken by Frank B. 

 Armstrong in Tamaulipas, Mexico, on April 18, 1908, from a "nest of 

 fine hay, hair, bark, cobwebs and lichens, suspended from a limb 4 

 feet high in a thicket." 



Eggs. — The usual set for Stephens's vireo is three or four eggs, per- 



