424 VIREOS 



e. Kans., s. Ills., Ky., w. N. C., and interior of Va. (locally in the East); 

 winters from the Middle States and s. New England to Tex., La., and Miss. 



Washington, rare W. V., Aug. 11-Api. 6; may summer. Ossining, casual. 

 Cambridge, one record, (Nov. 9, 1892). N. Ohio, tolerably common S. R., 

 Mch. 10-Nov. 1. Glen Ellyn, fairly common S. R., Mch. 2-Sept. 29. SE. 

 Minn., common S. R. Mch. 15-Oct. 28. 



Nesting date, Auburn, N. Y., May 11; se. Minn., Apl. 7. 



57. FAMILY VIREONID^. VIREOS. (Fig. 69.) 



The Vireos, numbering about one hundred species and subspecies, 

 are peculiar to America. Most of them are confined to tropical America, 

 only eleven species reaching the United States where, except along our 

 southern boundaries, they are migratory. 



Vireos are for the most part arboreal, though several species haunt 

 the lower, rather than the higher growth. For small, insect-eating birds 

 they are rather slow in their movements. We do not see them darting 

 out after insects as do the Flycatchers, nor do they flit through the 

 foliage after the manner of many Warblers, but patiently glean their 

 food from the under surfaces of leaves, crevices in the bark, etc. They 

 are more musical than the small Warblers ; all our species have pleasing 

 songs, and some of them are especially gifted. Their nests are neatly 

 constructed cups suspended from the arms of a forked branch. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES 



A. With distinct white or yellowish white wing-bars. 



a. Eye-ring, or line from eye to bill, yellow. 



a 1 . Throat and breast bright yellow; rump gray. 



628. YELLOW-THROATED VIREO. 



a 2 . Underparts white or whitish; sides and sometimes breast washed 

 with greenish yellow; rump olive-green. 



631. WHITE-EYED VIREO. 631a. KEY WEST VIREO. 



b. Eye-ring and line from eye to bill white. 

 6 1 . Head lead-blue; wing over 2'50. 



629. BLUE-HEADED VIREO. 629a. MOUNTAIN VIREO 

 b 2 . Head grayish, nearly like back; wing under 2*50. 



633. BELL'S VIREO (Illinois) 



B. Without white wing-bars. 



a. Underparts yellowish; first primary as long as fifth. 



626. PHILADELPHIA VIREO 



b. Underparts white; sides washed with yellowish; first primary "75 Ion?/. 



627. WARBLING VIREO 



c. Underparts white, with little if any yellowish on sides; head with a 



lead-gray cap, bordered by narrow black lines over the eye. 



624. RED-EYED VIREO. 623. BLACK-WHISKERED VIREO. 



623. Vireosylya calidris barbatula (Cab.). BLACK-WHISKERED 

 VIREO. Ads. Similar to the next species, but somewhat duller above and 

 with a fuscous streak on either side of the throat. 



Range. S. Fla. (as far n. as Anclote Keys), Key West, Dry Tortugas, 

 Cuba, Little Cayman, arid the Bahamas. 



Nest, pensile, of dry grasses shreds of bark, cotton, lichens, and spiders' 

 webs, lined with soft, cottonlike fibers, suspended from a forked branch, 

 5-20 feet up. Eggs, 3-4, white, with a pinkish hue, speckled and spotted, 



