1 6 'Bowmsu, Birds of Porto Bico, [ f "'' 



73. Vireo calidris barbatula. Black-whiskered Vireo. — Abundant 

 whei-ever I went. Apparently at least partially migratory, but of this my 

 evidence is not very positive. On May i, 1900, I found a finished nest 

 near Aguadilla, on a bush-grown hillside. It was hung in a horizontal 

 fork of a bush, abou't seven feet from the ground, at the back of a tiny 

 clearing just off a trail. It was composed of fibres and cottony substance 

 and exceedingly handsome, somewhat resembling some specimens of 

 Bell's Vireo. I visited it again on the 20th, but found the nest half torn 

 away and fragments of egg shells lying on the ground beneath. June 9 I 

 found another nest, from being attracted to the tree bv the singing of the 

 male. The female was on the nest and remained there while 1 climbed 

 the tree to within eight feet of her, and jarring the limb and throwing 

 sticks failed to dislodge her, she only crouching closer into the nest. 

 This nest greatly resembled typical nests of V. olivacea^ and was not nearly 

 so handsome as the fii-st. The two eggs were hardly distinguishable 

 from those of V. oUvacea. The nest and eggs are in the National 

 Museum. The l)irds watched the rifling of their home without protest. 

 On the same day I found another nest, which I again visited on the 12th. 

 It was twelve feet up, in the tip of a branch overhanging a road. This 

 was another handsome nest, like the first. It contained newly hatched 

 young. The song and notes of this species resemble those of V. ohvacea. 

 They eat almost as much fruit and seeds as insect food. 



74. Vireo latimeri. — I first noted this bird across the Bay from San 

 Juan, back in the bush-grown hills, on April i, 1900. Hearing a new note, 

 I stopped and began an investigation which ended in the securing of an 

 adult male and female and a two-thirds grown young male. These birds 

 were presented to the National Museum, and were the first received by 

 it in some 3'ears, the species being then represented in the Museum col- 

 lections by an old and discolored specimen. From the time of collecting 

 the above three speciinens vmtil the late summer and autumn of 1901, 

 I found these birds rare, and exceptionality silent, when, returniiig to May- 

 aguez from Mona Island, I found they were in full song and quite numer. 

 ous on a certain l^ush-grown hillside. They were not, however, readily 

 secured, as they mostly kept to the most impenetrable jungles, and though 

 far from shy, were so restless that one might be forty rods away by the 

 time I reached the spot where I had just heard him. I succeeded, how- 

 ever, in securing a series of about twenty birds for the National 

 Museum. The song at this time, though vireo-like, was distinctise, and 

 while not easy to indicate on paper, would not be readily forgotten. On 

 June 15. 1900, I described in my note-book a quite different song, as fol- 

 lows : "This bird has a note quite diflierent from that of any other Vireo 

 I have heard. It sounds somewhat like ioo turoo, with the accent on the 

 first syllable, and the last two run together and prolonged." It was music- 

 ally whistled and repeated a number of times. On June 21, 1900, I wrote ; 

 "A Vireo la I i in eri came, within six feet of me. He was singing, and the 

 song was quite different from those previously recorded, more vireo-like, 



