390 NUUTII AMERICAN J3IRDS. 



ritoiy. In his account of it Mr. Audubon states that it is usually found in 

 the bottom-lands along tlie shores of the Upper Missouri liiver, from the 

 neii'hborhood of the Black Snake Hills, as iar as they ascended tliat liver. In 

 its habits he describes it as more nearly allied to the White-eyed Vireo than 

 any other. 



Dr. Woodhouse, in his report of the Zuni Iliver Expedition, mentions find- 

 ing this species aljundant in Texas. Mr. Dresser als(j speaks of it as not 

 uncommon, during the summer, near San Antonio, and remaining there to 

 breed. He mentions finding a nest on tlie '2d of July in a vrmtdte bush 

 near the San Pedro, containing three eggs of this species and one of the Cow- 

 Bunting. Being anxious to procure the parent bird he left it, but on his 

 return the nest had been torn and the Vireo's eggs smashed. Dr. Ileermann 

 found a nest on the Medina about the .same time. He describes this nest as 

 beautifully formed of fine gi^asses, and hung from the small twigs of a tree. 

 The eggs, four in nundjer, were very small, white, with an occasional reddish 

 dot at the larifer end. The nest found by Dr. Ileermann was attached to the 

 pendent twigs of a willow. The stomachs of these Vireos were found to 

 contain small green caterpillars. 



Dr. Coues met with this species near Fort Riley, May 23. It appeared to 

 be ([uite common, and was found inhabiting thickets and clumps of bushes, 

 like V. novchonmnsis, but having a very different song, the peculiarity of 

 which first attracted his attention. Mr. Ilidiiway found it to be a connnon 

 summer resident in the thickets and copses of Southern Illinois, esi>ecially in 

 the prairie districts. He first met with it on the 8th of June, 1871, on Fox 

 Prairie, in Richland County. His attention was drawn to it by its peculiar 

 song, which has a general resemblance to that of the White-eyed Vireo, hav- 

 ing the same odd delivery, Ijut being more sputtering, reminding one some- 

 what of the song of Trogloihftes axlon. 



This Vireo appeai-s to have quite an extended distribution during the 

 breeding-season, or from Texas to the Upper Missouri, and even as far as the 

 eastern edijje of Southern Illinois. It breeds also as far to the east as Ea.st- 

 em Kansas. Its western limits are not so clearly defined. It was not found 

 by Mr. Ridgway in Nevada or Utah, nor by Dr. Coues in Arizona. 



A nest of this species, found in June, near Neosho Falls, Kansas, by Mr. 

 B. F. Goss (S. I. Coll., 1,875), is pensile ; suspended from two small twigs, which 

 make the basis of three fourths of its rim. Over these is strongly bound 

 a finely felted webbing of the fiax-like fibres of plants, interwoven with 

 slender stems. AVith these are connected and interwoven also the materials 

 that make up the periphery of the nest itself. This is composed of long 

 and slender strips of bark, fragments of dry leaves, bits of wood, and various 

 other fragmentary sul)stances. The nest, unlike otliers of this family, is 

 lined with down, and the fine long hair of some animals, instead of with 

 vegetable stems. The diameter as well as the height of this nest is about 

 two and a half inches. 



