BLUE-HEADED VIREO 293 



posed the framework of the nest, and thin dry grasses served for 

 lining." 



Mr. Saunders ( 1938) says of the nests of the bhie-headed vireo in the 

 Allegany State Park, New York : 



They range from four to 30 feet from the ground ; in fact, with the exception 

 of one nest in an area of mature timber on Red House creek, all nests I have 

 seen have been ten feet or less from the ground. They are placed in beech, 

 sugar maple, yellow birch and hornbeam trees and probably other species, but 

 these species are most abundant in the forest and therefore most commonly used. 

 I think the bird does not have any special preference for one species over 

 another. 



The nests are indistinguishable from those of other vireos. Under natural 

 conditions they are composed of bark, leaves, bits of moss and some grasses, 

 strips of yellow bii'ch bark, in this region, being a conspicuous material. About 

 camps they frequently use paper, and are evidently just as fond of newspaper 

 as is the rod-eyed vireo. Tissue paper, cellophane and a piece of chewing gum 

 wrapper have all been found in the nests. One nest was gaudy with strips of 

 colored tissue paper that had been supplied to the birds by a student at the 

 school. One nest back on the mountainside that had no such artificial materials, 

 had three porcupine quills woven into its rim. 



C. M. Jones (1887), of Eastford, Conn., found three nests in laurel 

 bushes, between 8 and 7 feet above the ground, and one suspended 

 near the end of a long horizontal branch of a hemlock tree, about 5 

 feet from the ground. Most of the nests reported by others have 

 been almost, or quite, within reach from the ground. 



The hanging, basketlike nests of the blue-headed vireo, like those of 

 other vireos, are suspended by their upper rims, often none too se- 

 curely, from the supporting twigs. The nest may be at the forked 

 end of a long, slender branch of a tree, between the prongs of a 

 forked twig, or between two twigs projecting side by side from the 

 upright stem of a sapling; and it is almost always close to where the 

 prongs start to fork, or close to tlie stem of an upright. 



The nests that I have seen vary considerably in size, neatness, and 

 kind of materials used in their composition. Most of the materials 

 mentioned in the above descriptions are likely to be found in one or 

 another of the nests. Brief descriptions of three nests before me will 

 illustrate some of the variations. One nest, built early in the season, 

 is not beautiful but is one of warmest and coziest cradles for an early 

 brood of vireos that I have seen; the body of the nest is made mainly 

 of strips of inner bark of grapevine, various soft plant fibers, many 

 fine rootlets, pieces of thread and fine grasses, mixed with lichens, 

 bits of mosses, bunches of rabbit hair, bits of cotton and soft feathers, 

 including a large downy feather of a great horned owl ; it is neatly 

 lined with some peculiar hairlike filaments, light yellow and red at the 

 base, which I think are the roots or stems of club mosses; on this 

 lining are a few small downy feathers, a little cow hair, and a little 

 rabbit fur. 



