70 



THE OOIiOGIST 



blue tinge leave, althougli the differ- 

 ence would not be jioticed in a single 

 set by itself. 



Wm. B. Crispin. 

 New Jersey. 



White Thrashers Eggs. 



We have recently placed in our col- 

 lection a very valuable edition in the 

 shape of a set of four white eggs of 

 the Brown Thrasher — Texostoma ru- 

 fum — presented to us by our friend, 

 E. A. Ford, of Chicago. This set is, 

 to the naked eye, almost pure white, 

 but when held up to a strong artificial 

 light or put under a strong magnify- 

 ing glass slight traces of a few brown 

 pigment markings can be seen. The 

 ground color is white. The set was 

 taken by Mr. Ford at Glenco, Cook Co., 

 May 25th, 1907. The nest was on the 

 ground under a heap of dead bushes, 

 in a bed of dry leaves under the bush. 

 It was 5% inches in diameter and 1% 

 Inches deep, composed of leaves, twigs 

 and rootlets, and lined with fine dark 

 .colored rootlets. The bird was flush- 

 ed from the nest. 



We are under obligations to Mr. 

 T^ord for one of the real raraties in 

 our large collection. 



Random Notes in Review. 



May 31. In a clump of tangled 

 "bushes in a hedge corner the voice of 

 Bell's Vireo guided me to its secluded 

 quarters, and I was afforded an oppor- 

 tunity of extending my acquaintance 

 with this interesting greenlet. The 

 song of this diminutive bushman is 

 not loud, but its hurried enunciation, 

 its somewhat scolding inflection, its 

 frequent repetition in the vicinity of 

 its nest, its true vireo-like equality, 

 and the elusiveness of the author, 

 make the song and songster easy to 

 identify after an acquaintance has be- 

 gun. The singing of the Bell Vireo 



can not be heard far away when other 

 members of the bushland choir are 

 performing, and hence this bird doe; 

 not seem to be generally noticed. I 

 the bird-gazer, however, will follow 

 the quiet hint that comes to his ear, 

 from the clustering shrubbery, am 

 trace the persistent musician to th 

 center of his round of song, he wi' 

 find the home of this neglected Viret 

 and learn something of the ways oi 

 the little greenlet moving restlessly in. 

 the copse. 



Like some others of our songsters 

 in midsummer, the Bell Vireo affects 

 two keys for the execution of its 

 songs. The singing in the higher key 

 is clearer and more distinctly articu- 

 lated, while the other phase of execu- 

 tion is much lower, harsher, and seems 

 to be forced through the closed or 

 nearly closed mandibles. The latter 

 performance is not heard nearly so 

 frequently as the regular ditty, but it 

 appears to be the expression of a fer- 

 vent affection to its listening mate. 

 All our Vireos sing while moving rest- 

 lessly among the foliage or hopping 

 nervously from twig to twig, peering 

 upward or sidewise to detect any suit- 

 able food morsels, and this habit 

 necessitates the frequent moving of 

 the observer to follow the actions of 

 these woodland songsters. The Bell 

 Vireo prefers the edges of the clumps 

 it haunts, seldom getting out into the 

 full sunlight except when it flits out 

 sportively in its nuptial movements. 

 Its attachment to the clump contain- 

 ing its pendent nest is extremely 

 noticeable, and when driven away by 

 the presence of wandering disturbers, 

 it can be heard singing there as soon 

 as the disturbance has removed. When 

 the nest has its complement of eggs, 

 however, the birds generally do not 

 leave the place, but indicate their ob- 

 jections to the presence of observers 

 by weak, vireo-like chirping, sound- 



