150 DAVENPORT ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 



family of seven or eight perched upon the telegraph wires, or hunting 

 in company along a hedge. 



Family VIREONIDiE. Vireos. 



Genus VIREO Vieillot. 



Subgenus VTREOSYLVA Bonaparte. 



[B 240, R 135, C 170, U 624.] 



Vireo olivaceus (Linn.). Red-eyed Vireo. Summer resident; 



rather common. Breeds in June. Its beautiful, pendulous nest is 



attached to the horizontal limb of some forest tree. The nest of this 



species is one which the cow-bird especially selects as a repository for 



its parasitic eggs. 



[B 244, R 138, C 173, U 626.] 



Vireo philadelphicus (Cass.). Philadelphia Vireo. Migratory; com- 

 mon; arriving the second week in May. It first appears in scattered 

 companies, moving in leisurely flights through the tops of the trees 

 along the water-courses, and associating with various species of warb- 

 lers. In the fall it appears about the first of September. 



[B 245, R 139, 139a, C 174, 175, U 627.] 

 Vireo gilvus (Vieill.). Warbling Vireo. Common migrant and 

 summer resident. Arrives about the first week in May, and remains 

 until September. Nests in the cottonwoods and maples that grow 

 along the country roadsides and the streets and gardens in towns. 



Subgenus LANIVIREO Baikd. 

 [B 252, R 140, C 176, U 628.] 

 Vireo flavifrons Vieill. Yellow- throated Vireo. Spring and fall 

 migrant; common. Also summer resident. It appears about the first 

 week in May, and departs about the first of September. At Des 

 Moines it is a very rare summer resident— only one nest having been 

 taken. This one was discovered on the 25th of June, 1S81, in a ravine 

 a short distance west of the city limits. The nest was pendulous — 

 like the structures of the other species of Vireo — dotted over with 

 little balls of cotton-like material and spider-webs. It was attached to 

 the forks of a horizontal branch of a large white oak, some twelve feet 

 from the main trunk, and twenty feet from the ground. It contained 

 two newly-hatched young, and one egg with a well-developed embryo. 

 The female was very courageous, and, though the branch on which the 

 nest was situated was shaken quite violently several times, remained on 

 her treasures so long that she barely escaped capture by the intruder. 

 As soon as his hand was withdrawn, she was back again on her nest. 



