392 NORTH AMKHKJAN 151 KDS. 



only one indistinct hintl on the wini,', instead of two sharply detined ones. 

 The bill is ninch sniuller, and the tail lon<;cr, tlian in pai/tnu. I', belli is 

 less ashy above and less pnie white beneath, the sides nmch more yellow- 

 ish ; the win<,' is also lonj^er, and the tail nuich shorter. V. viciniur is 

 much larger, with tlie wing longer than the tail, instead of shorter; the ash 

 above has a bluish instead of a greenish cast ; the lores are wholly grayish- 

 white, etc. 



H.viiiTS. Tlie Least Virco is a recently described species of its genus, and 

 one in regard to whose history comparatively little has been ascertained. It 

 Avas first met with at Cape St. Lucas by Mr. Xuntus, and described by Dr. 

 Coues in ISGO. Dr. Cones assigns as its habitat Lower and Southern (.'ali- 

 fornia, Sonora, and Arizona, at least as far north as Fort Wliipple. Dr. 

 ( 'ooper also found it at Fort Mohave. I )r. ( 'ones met with it fifty miles .south 

 of Fort 'VV'hip])le, where he found it breeding abundantly. He gives no in- 

 formation in regard to its habits. Dr. Cooper states that he found it rather 

 common along the ujipcr part of Mohave liivcr, in June, 1801 ; and in the 

 following si)ring, about Ajnil 2(1, they began to arrive at San Diego in con- 

 siderable numbers. In its habits Dr. Cooper thinks it greatly resembles V. 

 f/i/nis, though it differs entirely in its song. The notes of those that he heard 

 singing resembled very nmch tliose of the Polioptilus uttering a quaint rni.x- 

 ture of the notes of the Wrens, Swallows, and Yireos. They also .seem to 

 ]iossess more! or less of imitative powers. At Sacramento he saw and heard, 

 in the willows along the river, individuals which, from their peculiar notes, 

 he had no doubt were of this sj)ecies, but he did not verify his conjectures. 

 His suppositions were confirmed later by the observations of Mr. Iiidgway, 

 who states that he found these birds the most abundant as well as the most 

 characteristic Crreenlet in the vicinity of Sacramento. It is a species, he 

 adds, easily recognized, being in all respects (piite distinct from any other. 

 The character of its notes, as well as its habits, .show it to be a true Vireo. 

 Its song, though weaker, bears a great resemblance to that of the White-eyed. 

 A nest of this species was found by him near Sacramento. It was placed 

 about three feet i'rom the groiuid, in a low bush in a copse of willows. Like 

 all the nests of this genus it was pensile, being attached to and su.s])ended 

 from the twigs of a branch. 



Two nests of this interesting s])ecies were also obtained near (^amp Grant, 

 Arizona, in 1807, by Dr. E. I'almer. They are wrought like all the nests of 

 this kind, lielow the small forked branches of a tree, suspended from the ex- 

 tremity of its twigs. They each have a diameter of about three and a half 

 inches, a height of two, with a cavity an inch and a half decj) and two wide. 

 The external jiortion, like the nests of the /'! Ix'lli, is wrought witli wo\'en 

 hemp-like vegetable fibres, strongly bound around the ends of the twigs and 

 covering the entire exterior. Within tliis is placed a strong, fiindy made 

 basket, composed of .slender strips of bark and long, fine, and Hexil)le pine- 

 needles, with a lining of finer materials of the same. In one of these nests 



