115 



FAMILY XIV. VIREONIDiE. 



Primaries lO; bill shorter than head, stout, compressed, decidedly notched and 

 hooked. Rictus with bristles. Nostrils exposed, overhung with a scale. Tarsus 

 scutellate ; toes soldered at base for the whole length of the basal joint of middle 

 toe, which is united with the basal joint of the inner and the two basal joints of 

 the outer. 



A family of sixty or seventy small olivaceous American birds. Coloration 

 blended and varying little with age or sex. All are insect-eaters, and many are 

 remarkable songsters. They are agile, plucky little birds ; shrikes on a small scale. 

 The nest is thin, neat, and compact, pensile from the fork of a twig, with white 

 spotted eggs. Outs fall in the genus Vtrea of Vieillot, with general characters as 

 given above. 



73. VIREO OLIVACEOUS, V. Ned-Eyed Vireo. G^-eenld. Olive green, crown 

 ashy, edged with blackish ; a white superciliary line ; white below, somewhat olive 

 shaded; eyes red; L. 6; W. 33?^; T. 2j^. A common summer resident, and an 

 energetic and jolly songster. 



74. V. PHILADELPHICUS. Cassin. Brotherly Love. Greetilet. Dark olive 

 green, ashy on crown ; no black lines en head ; a whitish superciliary line ; below 

 faintly yellowish, fading to white on throat; L. 4^; W. 2^; T. 2^^. Migrant; 

 not uncommon in the northern part of the State, though usually recorded as a rare 

 species. 



75. V. GILVUS. Bp. Warbling Vireo. Colors as in the preceding, but the 

 spurious quill evident. A common summer resident and an exquisite songster, 



Mr. T. G. Gentry, of Philadelphia, who has paid especial attention to the food 

 of our birds, finds that this vireo feeds mainly upon dipterous and lepidopterous 

 insects, the larvK of many of which are the worst pests of the farmer and fruit- 

 grower. Strangely enough they usually nest in tall trees in parks, lawns, orchards 

 and city shade trees, commonly fifty to one hundred feet from the ground, free from 

 all enemies except the parasitic cowbird. 



"Their song is a tender, gentle strain, with just a touch of sadness, borne on 

 the same breath that wafts to us the perfume of April's early blossoms ; and these 

 are all the sweeter for the instillation of such song. From the poplar, that glances 

 both silver and green as its tremulous verdure is stirred — from the grand old halls 

 of the stately, splendid, flowering liriodendron— from the canopied shade-weaving 

 elm, and the redolent depths of the magnolia, issues all summer long the same ex. 

 quisite refrain, while the singers glide through their hermitage unseen." 



76. V. FLOUIFROUS. Vieill. Yellow- Throated Vireo. Rich olive green 

 above, becoming ashy on rump; bright yellow below; belly white; superciliary 

 line and arbital ring yellow ; L. 53^ ; W. 3 ; T. 2. Common migrant and not rare 

 resident ; a brightly colored species. 



77. V. SOLATARIUS. Vieill. Blue- Headed ox Solitary Greenlet. Bright olive 

 green ; crown and sides of head bluish ash ; stripe to and around eye white ; a 

 -dusky line below it ; white below, sometimes washed with pale yellow. L. 5^; 

 W. 3 ; T. 2^. A stout, handsome greenlet, nesting along the borders of forests 

 and unfrequented roads, preferring the red cedar and red maple. The voung are 

 fed on the larvee of the geometrid moths which infest our trees ; flies, gnats, gall- 

 flies and other insect pests form a varied bill of fare. Mr. Gentry's notes on the 

 nidification of this species are full of interest. • 



