352 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



more retiring than the preceding and less noisy than the Red-eye, it 

 is not much observed. It is by some considered the handsomest of 

 all our Vireos, and a male in full spring plumage is pleasing to look 

 at, but I prefer the succeeding species. The Yellow-throated Vireo, 

 though not abundant, seems to be generally distributed throughout 

 Ontario. It has been found at Ottawa by Mr. White ; at London 

 Mr. Saunders reports it as a common summer resident ; and it is 

 also included in Mr. Thompson's " List of Birds of Manitoba," where, 

 however, it is mentioned as being rare or accidental. The female 

 differs but little in plumage from the male, the colors being less 

 decided. 



VIREO SOLITARIUS (Wils.). 

 260. Blue-headed Vireo. (629) 



Above, olive-green ; crown and sides of head, bluish-ash in marked contrast ; 

 a broad white line from nostrils to and around eye and a dusky loral line ; 

 below, white ; flanks washed with olivaceous, and auxiliaries and crissum, pale 

 yellow ; wings and tail, dusky, most of the feathers edged with white or 

 whitish, and two conspicuous bars of the same across tips of ^middle and great 

 coverts ; bill and feet, blackish horn color. Length, 5J-5| ; wing, 2f-3 ; tail, 

 ■2J-2J ; spurious quill, i-§, about J as long as second. 



Hab. — Eastern United iStates to tlie Plains. In winter, south to Mexico 

 and (Guatemala. 



Nest and eggs, similar to tliose of the other Vireos, resembling those of the 

 Yellow-throat more than either of the others. 



This is a stout, hardy-looking bird, apparently better adapted to 

 live in the north than any other member of the family. It arrives 

 from the south with the earliest of the Warblers, and in some years 

 is quite common during the first half of May, after which it is not 

 seen again till the fall. While here it is much among the evergreens, 

 leisurely seeking its food, and is usually silent, but when at home it 

 is said to have a very pleasant song. 



Some of the specimens procured in spring are beautiful birds ; the 

 plumage is soft and silky, and the different shades of color delicate, 

 but in others it is worn and ragged, as if they had been roughing it 

 during the winter. Quite a number of these birds cross our southern 

 border in spring and fall, but I have no record of their nesting in the 

 Province. It is more of an eastern species, being rare in Michigan 

 and Manitoba, but, according to Mr. Ridgway, " its known range 

 during the breeding season extends from Eastern Massachusetts and 

 the region along the northern border of the Great Lakes northward 

 nearly to the limit of the tree growth." 



