268 



Birds of 2^orth Carolina 



265. Vireosylva olivacea iLimi.). Red-eyed Vireo. 



Dcscriplion.-^()\[\-e green :il)()v<', white below, (,'rown ashy, edged on eaeh side witli Iihiekish. 

 A white superciliary hne and l)elow this a duskv streak. Iris red. Extreme nieasureinents of 

 45 Raleigh specimens: L., 5.0.5 to (5.25; wing, 'i.itD'to 3.40; tail, 1.95 to 2.30. 



Range. — North America, east of the Kocky Mountains, wintering in Mexico, Central and 

 South America. 



Range in \oHh Carolina. — Whole State in summer. 



FlU. 216. KeD-EVEU VlKEO. 



Tlic Red-eyed Mreo, the best known and most abundant member of the family, 

 is a very eommon summer resident in Nortli Carolina, arriving from the south 

 about the middle of April, although somewhat later in the higher and more north- 

 ern loealitics in the mountains. The latest birds do not leave us in fall until the 

 last of Oetolser. This is one of the few birds in which a distinct wave of migration 

 has been noted cjuite distinct from the one which brings the l)reeding birds. During 

 May, C. S. Brimley has often oljservcd these Vireos migrating in the lowgrounds 

 fully three weeks after the breeding birds had arrived in the upland woods. 



The nest is a deep, cup-shaped structure, made of bark, grass, and other vegetable 

 substances woven together, the lining l)eing of finer materials. It is .su.spended by 

 the rim from a slender fork at the end of a drooping limb. We have found nests 

 thus situated in beech, sweet gum, dogwood, persimmon, oak, maple, and birch 

 trees. The eggs are three, occasionally four, pure white in ground-color, and .spar- 

 ingly sprinkle<l with fine, dark, reddish-brown dots, chiefly near the larger end. 

 Size .85 X ..5G. At Raleigh nests have been recorded from May 19 to .lune 17, and 

 what few dates we have for other Nurth Carolina localities also fall within this 

 period. 



