228 LIFE-HISTORIES OF BIRDS 



cerned the utility which a nest composed of such 

 materials would secure in a conservative point of 

 view? It is true our smaller species have invet- 

 erate foes which are ever on the qui vive to gratify 

 their rapacity, and it behooves them to encircle 

 themselves with such guards as best conduce to 

 their preservation. Birds of prey having been 

 frequently deceived by masses of the kind, which 

 they at first probably regarded as nests, would 

 cease to regard them in such a light and pass 

 them by. It therefore follows as a logical 

 sequence, that the utilization of such substances 

 in the manner of nests, from their fancied resem- 

 blance to loose clusters of catkins, are best 

 adapted to the security and well-being of the 

 species, and now constitute in certain localities the 

 typical structure. 



Its song differs from that of any other Vireo. 

 It is a protracted and peculiar ditty which is heard 

 at irregular intervals, and begins with an animated 

 warble, which gradually increases in sound until 

 a certain pitch is attained, when it breaks down to 

 a falsetto note, then rises again, and ultimately 

 ceases. 



The eggs are five in number, oblong-oval, and 

 slightly pointed at one end; the ground-color is a 

 transparent white, flesh-colored in unblown speci- 

 mens, and chiefly marked with reddish-brown 

 spots about the larger end. They measure .77 

 inches in length and .52 in breadth. 



