VIIIK( )X1D.K — THE VIRE(JS. 



o87 



tlie other from Lynn, Mass., may l>e taken as eliaraeteristic of the species. 

 They are ahiiost exactly hemispherical in shape, their height and diameter 

 being the same, — three inches. They were .suspended from hjw bushes, 

 Iianj^ing from the extreme ends of tlie twigs, among which the nests were 

 fastened by fine impacted masses of wuod-mos.ses, which are very nicely and 

 elaborately interwoven with the lower portions of tlie outer covering of the 

 nest. The latter is comi)osed of a singular medley of various materials, 

 among which may be noticed broken fragments of dry leaves, bits of de- 

 cayed wood and liark, coarse Idades of grass, vari(ais vegetable fibres, lichens, 

 fragments of insects, mosses, straws, stems, etc. These are all wrapped round 

 and firmly bound together with strong hempen fibres of vegetables. AVithin 

 this outer envelope is an inner nest, made of the finer stems of grasses 

 and dry needles of the white pine, firmly interwoven. For the size of the 

 bird, these nests are proportionally larger and deeper than any others of the 

 common kinds. The cavity is two or two and a half inches deep. 



The eggs are usually live in number. One from (Georgia measures .77 by 

 .55 of an inch, and is of an oldong-oval shape ; another, from ^lassachusetts, 

 is nmcli more broadly ovate, measuring .80 by .02. Their greatest breadth 

 is .05 of an inch, and their length .8(1. Thev have a clear crvstal-white 

 ground, spotted about the larger end with fine dark-purple and reddish-brown 

 dots. 



This species is one of the most common foster-parents of the Cowbird, 

 the eggs of which are always tenderly cared for, and the offspring nurtured 

 by them, always to the destruction of their own nestlings. 



Vireo huttoni, Cvssix. 



HUTTOirS VIBEO. 



Vireo huttoni, Cassin, Pr. A. X. Si-. Phila. 1851, I'M) (Monteivy, Cal.">. — In. 1852, pi. i, 

 tig. 1. — Baiuo, Birds X. Am. 1858, 339, \A. Ixxviii, lig. 2: I{<v. 357.- S( latek, 

 P. Z. S. 1858, 302 (Oaxara) ; 18(>2, lU (La Paratla). — lu. Catal. 1801, 358, no. 25G. 

 — CooPEiJ, Ora. Cal. I, 1870, 121. 



Sp. CnAR. (Xo. 3,72.').) Fiist quill rather le.<s than half soeond. whidi about oquals the 

 tenth ; third a little lon^'er than seventh ; fourth and fifth nearly equal, and longest. Tail 

 sliiihtly rounded, shorter than wings. Bill very 

 small. 



Above olive-green ; brightest behind, esj^ecial- 

 ly on rump and edging of tail, duller and more 

 ashy towards and on top and sid(\s of head 

 ami neck. Wings with two bands on coverts, 

 and outer edges of innermost secondari(\s rather 

 broadly olivaceous-white; other quills edgt^l ex- 

 ternally with olive-green, paler towards outer 



primary; internally with whitish. Lateral tail-feather edged externally witli yellowish- 

 white. Feathers of rump with much concealed yellowish-gray. 



