5 36 ■ PASSERIFORMES : VIREONIDAE chap. 



Ijlack and chestnut species, ^vith a compressed, swollen and hooked 

 steel-ljlue beak exhibiting a pearly interior, should perhaps stand 

 in a separate Family, Euryccrotidae, and not with the Shrikes. 



Fam. XVII. Vireonidae. — The small group of " Greenlets " 

 ranges from Winnipeg and Nova Scotia to Argentina. The com- 

 pressed or depressed beak varies from stout and strongly hooked, 

 as in Vireolanius and Cyclorhis, to small and comparatively weak 

 as in HylopliiJvs ; both mandibles being notched, and the gape 

 bristly. The metatarsi are usually short and robust with slightly 

 united anterior toes, but are longer and more feeble in Vireo ; the 

 wings may be elongated and pointed, as in Vireosylvia, or abbre- 

 viated and roundish, as in Vireo and Neocldoe ; the tail is normally 

 short and even, with narrow feathers, but is rounded in JVeochloc. 

 The frontal feathers are somewhat erect. The coloration is olive, 

 or green and grey above — with a black, brown, ashy, or reddish cap 

 — and is grey, whitish, or yellow Ijeneath ; the wing frequently 

 exhibits white bands, and the head white, dusky, or rufous 

 stripes. White or yellow orbital rings occur in Lanivireo, a 

 red-brown tail in Hyhyphilas ocli.raceiccp^, a blue crown in 

 Vireolanius 2yulehellus, a chestnut pectoral band in V. melit- 

 ophrys. The bill and feet are sometimes red ; the eyes white, red, 

 or yellow. The sexes frequently differ in colour. 



These active and fearless birds inhabit forests up to an altitude 

 of ten thousand feet, as well as ravines, swamps, or even streets 

 of towns; they are usually observed in pairs amoiig the higher 

 branches of trees, creeping and hanging to the twigs, or chasing one 

 another about in play. Seldom do they seek the ground, but they 

 take fairly long flights, and dart out after passing insects, which, 

 with tiie larvae and a few berries and seeds, form the diet. The 

 continuous song consists of loud, reiterated, flute-like notes, supposed 

 in one case to resemble " Whip-Tom-Kelly " ; some forms also utter 

 harsher chirps or mews. The nest, a deep, firm cup of leaves, grass, 

 bark, lichens, spiders'-webs and cottony materials, lined with fibres, 

 fir-needles, delicate stems, or rarely down, is supported by some hori- 

 zontal fork, over which the rim is commonly turned; the four or five 

 eggs are white, generally spotted with red-brown, black, or purplish. 



Fam. XVIII. Sittidae. — The Nuthatches, though closely allied 

 to the Paridae, show a certain affinity to the Certhiidae (p. 571). 

 Typically they are stout little birds with long, pointed wings, and 

 short nearly square tails ; the bill is fairly long and strong, and is 



