202 



VIREONID^E : GREENLETS. 



This is decidedly the handsomest of the Greenlets, 

 the rich yellow of the throat and breast being as con- 

 spicuous as it is in the case of the Chat these two 

 birds, in fact, resembling each other quite closely. It 

 is not nearly so common in New England as either the 

 Red-eye or the Warbling Vireo, and in fact is rare, or 

 only locally distributed in any numbers beyond Massa- 

 chusetts, being decidedly characteristic of the Alle- 

 ghanian Fauna. It is, however, found in the Cana- 

 dian also. Mr. Ruthven Deane found it in September 

 at Ripogenus Lake, about one hundred and fifty miles 



northeast of Umba- 

 gog (Bull. Nutt. 

 Club, i, 1876, p. 

 74). This occur- 

 rence may be ex- 

 ceptional. The 

 Yellow - throat ar- 

 rives in New Eng- 

 land with other 

 Vireos very early in May, is distributed in a week or 

 two, and remains through the greater part of Septem- 

 ber. The eggs are not distinguishable with certainty 

 from those of the Red-eye and Warbling Greenlet, 

 though perhaps, on an average, more heavily spotted ; 

 they are laid at the same time. The nest, on the contra- 

 ry, is a much more highly finished structure, of greater 

 capacity, and elegantly adorned with a stucco-work of 

 lichens, like a Humming-bird's. Mr. Minot compli- 

 ments the birds on their architectural taste and skill, 

 and describes the result as " altogether one of the pret- 

 tiest nests to be found." t? The nest of this species," he 

 says, "is pensile, but rather larger and deeper than 



FIG. 50. DETAILS OF STRUCTURE OF YELLOW- 

 THROATED GREENLET. (Natural size.) 



