The Yellow-green Vireo 
nest. A bird to which I once listened at midday, in Ohio, had chosen 
for his station the topmost bare twig of a beech tree a hundred feet from 
the ground, and from this elevated position he poured out his soul at 
the rate of some fifty phrases per minute, and without intermission during 
the half hour he was under observation. 
Since the chances that this bird may eventually be found breeding- 
in northern California are not altogether remote, I append a word con¬ 
cerning the breeding habits of the Red-eye, which, save for the distance 
from the ground and the precise materials composing the nest, will apply 
almost equally to any of our vireos: 1 
“So thoroughly possessed does our little hero become with the spirit 
of poesy, that when he takes a turn upon the nest he indulges, all un¬ 
mindful of the danger, in frequent outbursts of song. Both birds are 
closely attached to the home, about which center their fears and their 
hopes; and well they may be, for it is a beautiful structure in itself. 
The nest is a semipensile cup, bound firmly by its edges to a small fork 
near the end of some horizontal branch of tree or bush, and usually at 
a height not exceeding five or ten feet. It is composed largely of fibers 
from weed-stalks, and fine strips of cedar or clematis bark, which also 
forms what little lining there is. A curious characteristic of the entire 
Vireo family is the attention paid to the outside instead of the inside of the 
nest. The outside is carefully adorned with lichens, old rags, pieces 
of wasp nests, or bits of newspaper, with no idea of furthering conceal¬ 
ment, for the result is often very conspicuous. The walls are not over 
a third of an inch thick, but are so strong that they not infrequently 
weather the storms of three or four seasons.” 
No. 113 
Yellow-green Vireo 
A. 0. U. No. 625. Vireosylva flavoviridis Cassin. 
Description. — Adult: Somewhat similar to V. olivacea, but sides and flanks 
more extensively and uniformly olive-yellow; under tail-coverts deeper, sulphur- 
yellow; without distinct dusky post-ocular area; top of head and hind-neck plain 
mouse-gray, the former bordered indistinctly, or not, with dusky; remaining upperparts 
bright olive-green; an ill-defined superciliary of pale gray; lores dull gray; auriculars 
light olive-green; chin, throat, median line of chest and breast, and belly, white; the 
contiguous portions of sides and flanks olive-yellow, shading into olive-green of upper- 
parts; under tail-coverts, wing-linings, and axillars clear sulphur-yellow. Bill and 
feet much as in V. olivacea; iris red or brownish red (compiled from Ridgway). Length 
about 152.4 (6.00); wing 78 (3.07); tail 55 (2.17); bill 14.4 (.57); tarsus 18.4 (.72). 
‘From “The Birds of Washington.” 
