DESCRIPTIVE LIST 267 



For a lookout post the Loggerhead prefers the top of a small tree or a telephone 

 or telegraph wire. When taking flight it drops abruptly at first, as if the weight 

 of its body were too great for the short wings to support. 



The usual notes of the Loggerhead are harsh, one of its calls being very like the 

 creaking and squealing of a rusty windlass. It has, however, at times a low and 

 pleasing song. In most parts of the State where it has received a local name it is 

 known as " French Mockingbird," or "Butcher Bird." 



264. Lanius ludovicianus migrans (Palmer.} MIGRANT SHRIKE. 



Description. Differs from the Loggerhead only in slightly paler color and in having the wing 

 longer than the tail, the validity of which latter distinction can be judged by the following extreme 

 measurements of Raleigh specimens taken from September to February: L., 8.15-9.15; W., 

 3.654.00; T., 3.25-4.15. Number of specimens having wings longer than tail, 21; with tail 

 longer than wings, 9; with wings and tail equal, 7; total, 37. 



Range. Eastern United States, occupying the northern portion in summer, and migrating 

 more southward in winter. 



Range in North Carolina. Most of the State in winter and fall, and parts of the west in summer. 



The Migrant Shrike, which is simply the more northern and migratory subspecies 

 of the Loggerhead, occurs at Raleigh from late August till the end of March, and 

 has also been observed in winter at Durham, Greensboro, Guilford College, War- 

 renton, and Chapel Hill. It has been recorded as breeding at Statesville (Mc- 

 Laughlin), and Morganton (Wayne), and as a migrant in Buncombe County 

 (Cairns). 



5O. FAMILY VIREONID>E. VIREOS 



This family contains a number of small insectivorous birds, with the bill hooked 

 slightly at the tip. In this State they seem to be known almost exclusively as 

 "Hangers" or "Swinging-birds," from the way in which they suspend their nests 

 from the limbs of trees. Technically, this family is remarkable for the fact that 

 different species possess either nine or ten primaries, which character in other 

 perching-birds is of family importance, while it here becomes only of specific im- 

 portance. 



KEY TO GENERA 



1. First primary two- fifths or more length of second. Wings relatively short and rounded, not 

 one-fourth longer than tail; bill stout. Vireo. 



1. First primary very short or apparently wanting, not one-fourth length of second. Wings long 



and pointed, one-fourth or more longer than tail. See 2. 



2. Slender species. No wing-bars nor orbital ring. Vireosylva. 



2. Stout species. Wing-bars and orbital ring present. Lanivireo. 



Genus Vireosylva (Bonap.) 



This genus includes those vireos, which have long wings without any wing-bars, 

 slender bills, and no orbital-ring. The species are all very much alike, but so far 

 as this State is concerned only one species occurs outside the mountain region. 



KEY TO SPECIES 



1. Crown ashy, edged with black. Primaries apparently nine. Red-eyed Vireo. 



1. Crown ashy, without black. See 2. 



2. Primaries apparently nine. Philadelphia Vireo. 

 2. Primaries evidently ten. Warbling Vireo. 



