522 DISTRIBUTION Of THE WHITE-EYED GREENLET 



Vireo we enter upou a group of siijaller species, whose sur- 

 roundings we shall find to be quite different ; for these live in 

 the thickets, down among the Oat-birds, Thrashers, Sparrows, 

 Chats, and Wrens. This group of nearly-related, bush-loving 

 species includes the Black-capped, the Least, and Bell's Vireos, 

 besides the more familiar White-eye, whose turn comes first. 



This neat and pleasing little bird does not belong at all to 

 the fauna of the Colorado Valley, but I make a place for ii, 

 here, because it reaches to the very feet of the majestic mount- 

 ains that environ this watershed on the east. It is one of 

 the most abundant and most generally diffused of its family in 

 the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, and is among 

 the various species whose range has been latterly traced west- 

 ward to these mountains. There is indeed a Townsendian 

 record of the occurrence of the White-eye in the Columbia 

 River region, but this lacks verification, and is presumed to be 

 erroneous. The same may be said respecting Audubon's 

 ascription of the species to Nova Scotia, though this is much 

 more likely to be confirmed. The New England writers are 

 nearly unanimous in deciding that the bird does not proceed 

 through their territory beyond Massachusetts, and it has 

 already become rare in some parts of that State. We may 

 therefore accept this as the usual terminus of the migration in 

 that direction ; and it agrees somewhat, as a matter of latitude, 

 with what we know of the extension of the bird in correspond- 

 ing latitudes further west, though the bird is cited by Trippe 

 from Minnesota, and by Cabot from the Lake Superior region.* 

 The western line of distribution passes through Dakota, Iowa, 

 Kansas, Colorado, the Indian Territory, and Texas, — even 

 western portions of the latter. The bird is resident in the Ber- 

 mudas, and we have sundry advices of its occurrence in Cuba, 

 but in no other of the West Indies, if the Jamaican representa- 

 tive, Vireo modestus, be regarded as a distinct species. The 

 breeding-range is coextensive with the whole United States 

 distribution of the bird, and also includes Bermuda. The 

 species, moreover, differs from some of its allies in wintering 

 among us, hs it does in numbers in the South Atlantic and 

 Gulf States, from South Carolina to Texas; though some indi- 

 viduals perform a much more extensive migration, making 

 Southern Mexico and Guatemala their winter residence. 



* Whence it appears that Dr. Brewer's statement, that the bird has not been 

 found " north of the 43d parallel ", is incorrect. Mr. Trippe worked in the 

 region of the Mille Lacs, which lie between 46° and 47°. 



