1010 



REI>ORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST. 



May 5, 1895; Bicknell, April 18, 1896, April 27, 1894; Bloomington, 

 April 23, 1886, May 1, 1893; Lafayette, April 24, 1897, April 27, 

 1895; Sedan, April 21, 1896, May 5, 1889; Petersburg, Mich., April 

 28, 1888, May 10, 1893; Chicago, 111., May 6, 1895, May 9, 1896 and 

 1897. Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., notes it as sometimes appearing there 

 by May 1. I have observed them mating by May 7 (1886), and late 

 that month and in June the nest may be found, suspended from the 

 fork of a horizontal limb of a beech, maple or other long-limbed tree, 

 usually from five to twenty-five feet from the ground. It is a beau- 



Details of structure of Red-eyed Vireo. Natural 



tiful, cup-shaped structure, built of various kinds of fibres and felted 

 together with all sorts of material, chief of which seems to be leaves 

 and hornets' nests. To the outside is glued mosses, lichens and vari- 

 ous other decorations. Sometimes two broods are said to be reared. 

 They usually leave through September, but sing almost as long aa 

 they remain. I found them in full song September 10, 1897. The 

 latest dates at which they have b'een noted in fall are Brookville, 

 September 21, 1885; Bicknell, September 26, 1896; Lafayette, Sep- 

 tember 29, 1894; Sedan, October 1, 1889; Chicago, 111., September 

 26, 1895; Warren County, September 25, 1897; Trafalgar, October 

 12, 1897. Mr. J. E. Beasley reports it from Lebanon, Ind., as late 

 as October 23, 1894. It is one of a family of very beneficial birds. 

 Prof. King examined 49 of these birds and found the principal food 

 was 56 larvae, principally caterpillars; 30 insect eggs; 67 chinch bug; 

 32 beetles, and 6 grasshoppers. But 14 had eaten vegetable food, 

 which was probably all wild (Geol. of Wis., I., pp. 521, 522). 



