TEXAS VIREO-ARIZONA VIREO 263 



Calif ornica : 105 records, April 7 to June 27 ; 58 records, May 11 to 

 June 10. 



Illinois : 18 records, May 25 to July G; 11 records. May 25 to June 5. 

 Kansas : 26 records. May 20 to July 1 ; 15 records, June 7 to 16. 

 Texas : 47 records, April 25 to July 1 ; 24 records, May 13 to 29. 



VIREO BELLI MEDIUS Oberholser 



TEXAS VIREO 



HABITS 



In southwestern Texas, Presidio, Brewster, and Kinney Counties, 

 and farther south in Mexico, we may find this subspecies. 



According to Kidgway (1904) it is "similar to V. h. bellii, but color- 

 ation paler and tail averaging longer; pileum and hindneck brown- 

 ish gray instead of grayish brown ; olive of back, etc., grayer ; under 

 parts whiter, with olive-yellow of sides and flanks much paler; under 

 tail-coverts and axillars white, yellowish white, or very pale sulphur 

 yellow." 



Referring to Brewster County, Van Tyne and Sutton (1937) write: 



The vociferous Texas Vireos were common in the thick tangles of mesquite 

 and willow along the desert draws and about springs and cattle ponds. Occa- 

 sionally a few were found at a distance from surface water, but they were always 

 much more numerous where water was available. 



Since the male usually sings when an intruder approaches, a fairly accurate 

 estimate of their abundance could be made. The Texas Vireo is unquestionably 

 one of the most common inhabitants of the mesquite thickets of the region. 



On May 4, 1935, they located two nests in willow trees along the 

 Rio Grande, "one with two slightly incubated eggs, and one newly 

 made and ready for eggs. On May 11 we found a nest four feet from 

 the ground with four young about five days old in a mesquite bush." 



The nesting and other habits seem to be similar to those of the 

 species elsewhere. The measurements of nine eggs average 17.0 by 

 12.7 millimeters ; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 17,5 by 

 12.2 and 16.5 by 13.2 millimeters. 



VIREO BELLI ARIZONAE Ridgway 



ARIZONA VIREO 



HABITS 



This might be called the desert race of the species, found along the 

 Colorado River in southeastern California, in southern Arizona and 

 southwestern New Mexico, and from central western Texas southward 

 into Chihuahua and Sinaloa. 



Ridgway (1904) describes it as "similar to V. h. medius, but still 

 paler and grayer, the back and scapulars brownish gray, like pileum 



