Tue ORNITHOLOGISTS AND OOLocisTs’ SEMI-ANNUAL. 4 
THE BELL’S VIREO. 
Vireo bellit. 
BY LYNDS JONES, GRINNELL, IOWA. 
At Grinnell, Iowa, Bell’s Vireo usually arrives during the second 
week in May. His favorite resort is the underbrush, whence his 
characteristic song issues from spring to autumn. Any attempt at a 
description of this song would be futile. It is not rich and flowing 
like that of the Waibling Vireo, nor short and broken like that of the 
Red-eye ; but is a steady breath with many inflections and accents, 
and always ends with a flourish and rising inflection, suggesting 
inquiry. 
Often when in close proximity to the nest, though ignorant of its 
exact position, I have watched the birds as they scolded severely. 
‘Then, while the female continued this protest; the male would sud- 
denly cease and take up his song, apparently at a distance, while he 
sat as if a part of the branch on which he was perched. I very soon 
learned his trick and watched him as he practiced ventriloquism on me. 
Bell’s Vireo is a very sociable liitle fellow. He never retires to the 
secluded woods to build his nest ; but chooses some roadside or by- 
path where he sets up housekeeping. Building usually begins late 
in May, and the eggs are laid during the first week of June. The 
nest is lashed to the slender twigs of some tree or bush, preferably the 
hazel bush here, and is seldom more than five feet. from the ground. 
It is not as neatly woven and compactly built as nests of Red-eye and 
Yellow-throat, nor is it as artistically finished as theirs ; but is usually 
quite long and made of some grayish or drab colored material exter- 
nally, quite often stuccoed with cobweb and hickory blossoms. In- 
side this covering may be found cottony or woolly substances, and 
lastly a lining of brownish colored bark-fibres and a few horse-hairs. 
From what has been said above of the nesting sites, one might 
infer that the nest is easily found. Experience tells a different story. 
Small and of modest tint, it is not easily recognized amongst the 
woody stems and green foliage. I have often searched hours for a 
single nest and failed to find it. 
The eggs, three or four in number, area delicate white when fresh, 
spotted and dotted, never blotched, with several shades of brown, 
