302 



THE BLUE-HEADED VIREO. 



highly ornamented, almost concealed, by mosses and lichens. Some authori- 

 ties place it at a height of from five to twenty or thirty feet, but I am inclined 

 to the opinion that many nests may be found at a much greater height. The 

 males assist regularly in the duties of incubation, and they have a suicidal 

 habit of singing on the nest. 



No. 133- 



BLUE-HEADED VIREO. 



A. O. U. No. 629. Vireo solitarius (Wils.). 



Synonym. SOLITARY VIREO. 



Description. Adult : Crown and sides of head clear, bluish ash ; eye-ring 

 and supra-loral line white ; remaining upper parts olive-green ; wings and tail 

 blackish, with whitish or olive-green edgings ; tips of middle and greater coverts 

 white, forming two conspicuous bars ; spurious quill about one-fourth as long 

 as others ; second quill shorter than fifth ; point of wing formed by third and 

 fourth ; below white, purest on chin and throat ; the sides heavily washed with 

 greenish yellow or olive-green, the color reaching sometimes nearly across the 

 breast; bill and feet black or blackish. Length 5.00-6.00 (I27.-I52.) ; wing 2.95 

 (74.9) ; tail 2.18 (55.4) ; bill from nostril .29 (7.4). 



Recognition Marks. Warbler size ; a large, clearly-marked species, best 

 known by its blue cap enclosing white eye-ring, and its white throat. 



Nesting. Not yet positively reported from Ohio. Nest, a pendulous basket 

 of usual Vireo construction, but sometimes decorated externally with moss and 

 lichens, placed in forks of horizontal branch, five to fifteen feet up. Eggs, 4 or 5, 

 white with scattering dots and spots of red or reddish brown. Av. size, .81 x .62 

 (20.6 x 15.8). 



General Range. Eastern United States to the Plains, north to Hudson Bay 

 and Fort Simpson. South in winter to Guatemala. Breeds from southern New 

 England and the northern parts of the Lake States northward. 



Range in Ohio. A common spring and fall migrant. Suspected, but not 

 known to breed in northern part of state. 



IT is a thankless task to compare the several beauties of birds so modest 

 as the Vireos, but certainly when it comes to plumage nothing could be more 

 chaste, more decorous, and pleasing withal, than the dainty blues and whites 

 of V . solitarius. It is principally by his costume that we know him, for he 

 is usually silent during migrations, and sings only in the northern tier of 

 counties, or, in a moment of forgetfulness, by the wayside. Blue-headed 



