1 82 SINGING BIRDS. 



tic, more than loo feet from the ground. At other times they 

 are not more than 50 to 70 feet high. The only nest I hav^e 

 been able to examine was made externally of flat and dry 

 sedge-grass blades, for which, as I have observed, are occa- 

 sionally substituted strings of bass. These dry blades and 

 strips are confined and tied into the usual circular form by 

 caterpillars' silk, blended with bits of wool, silk-weed lint, and 

 an accidental and sparing mixture of vernal grass tops and old 

 apple-blossoms. It was then very neatly lined with the small 

 flat blades of the meadow grass called Poa cotnpressa. 



This species is rather uncommon in the Maritime Provinces 

 excepting near the Maine border in New Brunswick, and in the 

 more southern portions of Nova Scotia. It is fairly common in 

 southern Quebec, and abundant in Ontario. In parts of New 

 England and the Middle States it is a common summer resident. 

 At the West it ranges north to the fur countries. 



RED-EYED VIREO. 



ViREO OLIVACEUS. 



Char. Above, bright olive, crown ashy; white line over eyes; iris 

 rubv red ; beneath, white faintly tinged with dull olive on sides; wings 

 and tail dusky. Length sj^ to 6j^ inches. 



Nest. In an open pasture or along margin of field ; suspended from 

 fork of an upper branch ; composed of grass and vegetable fibre, and 

 lined with fine grass, etc. 



Eggs. 3-5 ; white (sometimes with a faint pink tint) spotted sparingly, 

 around larger end, with dull brown ; 0.80 X 0.55. 



These common and indefatigable songsters appear to inhabit 

 every part of the American continent, from Labrador to the 

 large tropical islands of Jamaica and St. Domingo ; they are 

 likewise resident in the mild tableland of Mexico. Those 

 individuals who pass the summer with us, however, migrate to 

 the warmer regions at the commencement of winter, as none 

 are found at that season within the limits of the United States. 

 The Red-Eyed Vireo arrives in Pennsylvania late in April, and 

 in New England about the beginning of May. It inhabits the 



