NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 421 



growth, and is often found in the alders and aspens. He states that it is more com- 

 mon than the Warbling Vireo. Nests were found in oaks and alders. About Fort 

 Klamath, Oregon, Dr. Merrell, says that the bird shows a marked predilection for 

 pines and firs, and is also found, but much less frequently, in aspen groves, with 

 Vireo gilvus swainsoni. The nests and eggs of this species resemble those of the 

 Warbling Vireo. The eggs measure .80x.58. Mr. Norris has a set of three eggs of this 

 species in his cabinet that was taken June 10, 1888, near Ft. Klamath, Ore. They are 

 white, sparsely speckled with burnt umber; sizes, .77x.55, .74x.55, .83x.60. The last 

 egg is abnormally large. 



6291). PLUMBEOUS VIREO. Vireo solitarius plumbeus (Coues.) Geog. Dist. 

 Rocky Mountain region of the United States; south in winter into Mexico. 



This subspecies is abundant in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States, 

 especially the southern portion, breeding in the pine districts up to an altitude of 

 9000 feet. In suitable localities in Colorado this Greenlet is a common summer resi- 

 dent; also in the mountainous regions of New Mexico and Arizona. Its nest is built 

 very similar to that of the Solitary Vireo, T. solitarius, of the Eastern States, but is 

 usually placed higher, and the eggs are indistinguishable. 



629e. MOUNTAIN SOLITARY VIREO. Vireo solitarius alticola Brewst. 

 Geog. Dist. Southern Alleghanies (Western North Carolina, etc.). 



According to William Brewster, this bird differs from solitarius proper, in being 

 larger, with a stouter bill, and duller, darker, and more uniform coloring above. 

 Throughout the elevated plateau in the southeastern corner of Macon county, North 

 Carolina, he found this new Vireo to be one of the most abundant forest birds, fre- 

 quenting exclusively open oak and chestnut woods, mingling its wild, ringing voice 

 with the rich music of the equally numerous Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and Scarlet 

 Tanagers. On the Black Mountains it was very common, ranging from about 4200 

 feet to the lower edge of the balsams (5000 feet), and inhabiting woods similar tc 

 those just described. Mr. Brewster and Mr. R. B. McLaughlin simultaneously 

 published accounts of the first nests and eggs of this bird ever taken. The nest de- 

 scribed by Mr. Brewster contained four perfectly fresh eggs, and was found by Mr. 

 J. S. Cairns, May 27, 1887, on Craggy Mount, Buncombe county, North Carolina. It 

 was in a chestnut, ten feet out from the main trunk and about twenty feet above the 

 ground. The nest is a substantial structure, suspended after the usual Vireo fashion 

 in the forks of a terminal twig. In places the rim is nearly an inch in thickness. 

 The exterior is beautifully diversified with white and purplish-brown sheep's wool, 

 grayish lichens, small strips and fragments of decayed wood, and a few spider's 

 cocoons, bound firmly to or hanging loosely from a frame-work proper, which is com- 

 posed of coarse grass stalks and strips of bark. The interior lining is fine bleached 

 grasses, stems, and moss. Upon comparing this nest with four New England nests of 

 7. solitarius, Mr. Brewster states that it is much larger, with thicker walls and more 

 elaborate external decorations. The eggs are also larger and finer spotted than 

 any of the series of fifteen eggs of solitarius in his collection. The eggs belonging to 

 this nest measure, respectively, .84x.49, .78x.58, .78x,58, .80x.5S. They are ovate to 

 elongate-ovate in shape; in color, pure white, with a few fine spots, and rather 

 numerous minute dots of brown varying in tone from vandyke to seal brown. Mr. 

 McLaughlin found the Mountain Solitary Vireo breeding in the vicinity of States- 

 ville, Iredell county, North Carolina, in June, 1888. He obtained two nests contain- 

 ing eggs on the llth and 15th, respectively. Mr. McLaughlin's observations indicate 



