BLACK-VVinSKEREl) VIKEu. 551 



and action. Tiiese Viroos coiitiuuL' to siiiu; until tiie midilii' of September, but do not 

 give the full song after July. By tiie first of October they dei)art for the south. I have 

 never met with this species in Florida, l)ut Mr. Boardman has seen it upon one or two 

 (jccasions. 



VIREO BARBATULUS. 

 Black-whiskered Vireo. 



Tlate XXXVIII. Adult Male. 

 DESCRIPTION. 



Sp. Ch. Size, a little larger than that of the Red-ej'ed Vireo : the bill, on the average, is proportionately 

 larger. The wings are long and pointed. Either the third or fourth rjuills are the longest or both are 

 « (ual. The second quill is generally slightly longer than the si.xth, is rarely equal to it and seldom 

 shorter. The tail is slightly rounded, the graduations amounting to about .10. The sternum is so similar 

 to that of the Red-eyed Vireo that those of the two species are indistinguishable, and other internal characters 

 are also similar. 



Color. Adult. Above, olivaceous green tinged with ashy on the middle of the back. Top of head and 

 nape ashy. Wings and tail brown, edged with greenish white internally and with greenish externally. 

 All of the wing feathers are narrowly tipped with whitish. Sides of head, grayish, and there is a graj'ish 

 superciliary line, extending from bill to nape, bounded above by a narrow line of dusky. There is a dusky 

 line through eya and a narrow maxillary line of the same color extending nearly to the posterior end of the 

 ear covert. Beneath, white, slightly tinged with ^yellowish, which becomes more decided on under wing and 

 tail coverts. Sides and flanks, greenish. Iris, red. Bill, brown, lighter at base of lower mandible. Feet, bluish. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



In color there is but little variation, but there is considerable difference in size, as will be seen by 

 consulting Dimensions. Out of thirty-two specimens examined sixteen have the third and fourth quills 

 longest and equal ; seven have the fourth the longest, and eight the third. Twenty-five have the second 

 longer than the sixth, the extreme difterence being about .1.5. Four have the second equal to the sixth and 

 in thi-ee the second is slightly shorter than the sixth. 



The color above is very nearly like that of Vireo olivaceus, even to the slaty on the top of the head, the 

 only appreciable difference being the slight ashy obscuring the olivaceous on the back of V. barbatula. 

 Beneath, the present species is slightly yellowish on the white, but the principal difterence between the two 

 species may be seen in the prominent dusky maxillary line in the Black-whiskered Vireo. On the average, 

 the bill of V. barbatulus is longer and larger than in V. olivaceus. But specimens of tlie Red-eye occur 

 which have as large bills as some of the smaller-billed specimens of the Black-whiskered. From Vireo 

 altiloquas, from the more southern of the West Indies this species may be distinguished by the pure ashy of 

 the sides of the liead, which in tlie more southern species is overwasbed witli ochraceous. Vireo barbatulus 

 was describeii by Gambell, in the Proceedings of tlie Academy of Natural Science, of Philadelphia, in 1 848, 

 from a specimen obtained in Florida. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Largest specimen: wing. 3.20: tail, 2.7.5 : bill from base, .6.5; from nostril, ..50: depth at nostril, .20; 

 width, .20; tarsus, .65. Smallest specimen : wing, o.OO; tail, 2.15; bill from base, .62; from nostril, .40; 

 depth at nostril, .18; width. .17. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



Nests, purse-shaped, composed of grass, leaves, and fragments of palm fronds, lined with rootlets. 

 Eggs, two or three in number, oval in form, white in color, spotted and dotted with jiurplish brown and 

 black. Dimensions, .53 by .78 to .55 bj .88. 



