340 BULLETIN 197, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



table (Table II) it is shown that the snails stand fifth in numerical abun- 

 dance. * * * 



Some of the snails were specifically identified. Thus twelve snails were 

 recognized as Succinea avara, and all of them delivered by the female. At 

 visit No. 210 the male carried one specimen of Bifidaria armifera. * * * 



At visit No. 264 the female bird brought a spider to the nest which was of a 

 species that I had noticed frequently in the beaks of the parent birds, as well 

 as often in the woods. I was able to take this specimen from the beak of the 

 parent bird and preserve it for later identification. In due time this specimen 

 was identified by Mr. J. H. Emerton as Epeira trivittata Keyserling. This is a 

 very common round web spider, whose web is stretched between the branches of 

 the trees at all heights up to fifteen or twenty feet, and would thus be readily 

 found by the foliage gleaning Vireos. 



Arthur T. Wayne (1906) makes an interesting observation on the 

 food of the redeye in the Southern States in autumn. He writes : 



The controlling influence upon the migration of this bird in the autumn is the 

 presence or absence of the seeds (fruit) of the magnolia (Magnolia grand iflora) . 

 The fruit of this beautiful tree begins to ripen during the first week of September, 

 but the greater part ripens through October, and many seeds remain in the cones 

 until November. The color is coral-red, and some specimens are about three- 

 fourths of an inch in length, but the great majority average about half an inch. 

 These seeds contain a large amount of oil, and when this vireo has been feeding 

 upon them for any length of time it becomes very obese. There are many l)eauti- 

 ful trees on this plantation, and I have often sat on the steps of the old Colonial 

 house and watched these birds while feeding upon the fruit. The tree that has 

 the most fruit attracts nearly all the vireos in a radius of perhaps a quarter of 

 a mile, and I have often counted as many as fifty vireos in one tree. As long as 

 the fruit is to be had, the vireos remain, but as soon as the supply becomes 

 scarce or exhausted, the vireos depart. 



Paul Wanamaker, Dean Forest, and Charles L. Bull (1931) report 

 on the food which they fed to an injured young vireo. They say : "'In 

 five minutes he was taking blue-bottle flies from our finger-tips, hav- 

 ing refused our earlier attempts to feed him bits of earth-worms. A 

 daddy-long-legs was snapped up with great gusto, as were moths, a 

 dragon-fly, a small inch-worm, etc. * * * His entire menu for the 

 first day consisted of: 40 blue-bottle flies; 30 elderberries; 25 grass- 

 hoppers ; a tentf ul of tent caterpillars, of which he ate at least 15 ; 5 

 moths ; 2 daddy-long-legs ; 1 dragon-fly ; 1 young locust ; 1 inch-worm ; 

 1 spider ; 1 bee ; 1 butterfly — a total of 123 distinct items." 



Behavior. — Dayton Stoner ( 1932) writes thus of the favorite habitat 

 of the red-eyed vireo: "Woodland with an undergrowth of slender 

 saplings from six to ten feet high seems to appeal to this bird most." 



Such a situation affords the vireo with a nesting site not far above 

 ground in the low shrubs and a source of food in the high canopy of 

 the overhanging branches. These requirements, however, are often 

 closely approximated in settled communities, so that the redeye, al- 

 though a forest-loving bird, nevertheless finds congenial surroundings 

 for summer residence in the orchards, gardens, and tree-bordered 



