NEST OF THE RED-EYED GREENLET 499 



of the notes j others perhaps, of ulcer ear, may be more fortu- 

 nate. 



There is one point about this Greenlet (shared to some ex- 

 tent by other Vireos) with which collectors are doubtless as 

 familiar as myself, but which has not been recorded in so many 

 words. I refer to the nicety of the plumage at all seasons. 

 There is something about the moult that keeps the bird in good 

 order. You may shoot Ked-eyes in July and August, young 

 and old, always in fair condition for preservation, when most 

 other birds are ragged or full of pin-feathers. The vernal 

 birds, in their best feather, seem to be peculiarly smooth, 

 something like the Black throated Bunting in comparison with 

 others of its family. 1 have recently learned another fact, 

 novel to me, from a Philadelphia correspondent, Mr. W. L. 

 Collins.* This young naturalist found a Red-eye's nest upon 

 which the female was sitting, though the frame-work of the 

 structure was barely completed. The male bird presently flew 

 to the nest bringing some material in his bill, which he gave 

 to his mate to arrange while he went after more. The nest 

 contained at this moment three eggs, and it was not until 

 three or four days afterward that the fabric was finished. 

 Laying in half built nests is a common thing, however, and 

 probably more so than we may suppose, though less often 

 witnessed in such an instance as the present, where the pensile 

 structure must needs be well advanced to hold the eggs 

 securely. This Vireo keeps for the most part in high, open 

 woods, and there forages for insects mainly among the upper 

 branches, where we oftenest see it tripping alone, and whence 

 its song oftenest falls on appreciative ears ; but in its choice of 

 a nesting-place it frequently descends within a few feet of the 

 ground. The smaller trees, especially those with slender, 

 straggling branchlets, are commonly selected, the neat cup 

 being suspended by the brim in the embrace of a forked 

 twig. The structure is usually very smooth and compact, 

 as if the materials were matted or even pasted together, 

 unlike the tough, but pliably woven, purses of the Orioles ; and 

 some have supposed, though without direct evidence as yet, 

 that the materials are agglutinated with the saliva of the bird. 



* 1878. COUES, E. Nesting of Vireo olivaceus. < Bull. Nutt. Ornith. Club, iii. 

 no. 2, Apr. 1878, p. 95. 



Communicated by W. L. Collins. The bird laid in an unfinished 

 during its construction. 



