July, 1919 A SHORT PAPER ON THE HUTTON VIREO 163 
very much in the manner of a flycatcher; but on his return to the protection 
of the green foliage his flycatcher propensities desert him and he usually goes 
full tilt into the cover rather than show himself longer than necessary. 
During the fall and winter this Vireo’s liquid note is seldom heard and 
then but a contented bar or two while feeding. But at the first breaking of 
winter into spring his notes become more frequent. The nuptial song is a con 
stant repetition of a single note, often for a prolonged period. It is like the 
twanging of a bow string in one key, quid, quid, quid, repeated indefinitely. 
The above is not an attempt to reproduce the note, as it has more liquid quality 
and there is a slight cadence in it ranging higher towards the end of the note. 
Tn some individuals it is given a slight trill like water over stones. The earliest 
[have heard their song, if song it could be called, is in the first week of Febru- 
ary, and it is to be heard from then on until late summer. 
One always associates the Hutton Vireo in his mind with the live oaks. 
I always think of this little feliow as the spirit of the live oak tree. The tree 
stationary, unconscious until livened by its spirit, in whose enfolding bosom the 
spirit lives and dies. If trees can love, how they must cherish the cheery sprite 
that spends its life in fond protection of their bodies. The body seldom dies 
and the spirit is constantly renewed, the association is eternal. The spirit 
wanders but ever returns to its castle, and I can think that nothing would 
please it better than to die nestled at the foot of its live oak. 
About the first and second weeks in March home-building is begun. The 
site being properly chosen, both birds begin the task. The round, deep-cupped 
structure is built entirely of Spanish moss, the first strands being woven on 
both sides of the chosen crotch, with loose ends hanging down; as the building 
goes on these hanging ends are woven together at the bottom and the nest be- 
gins to take shape. As the structure progresses the moss that goes to build it 
becomes finer and finer and each strand is woven in with a weaving motion of 
the bill. When the nest will support the weight, each bird, after it has placed 
the material it has brought, pops in and works with feet and body to round out 
and cup the structure. 
Most of the material for the nest is collected within a radius of thirty-five 
to fifty yards of the nest, but seldom in the immediate vicinity of the site and 
never from the same tree. In approaching the nest, usually from two to three 
stops are made before the last flight direct to the nest. On leaving the birds 
generally fly direct to a neighboring tree. Building progresses slowly or rap- 
idly, as the weather permits. I noted one pair commence and complete a nest 
in about four days; normally a week, two, or even a greater length of time is 
required on account of the frequent showers we have in March and April. 
Sometimes a few days elapse between the completion of the nest and the depos- 
iting of the first egg, but usually the female immediately commences to lay and 
does so daily until the setting is complete. Incubation is begun at once. 
Incubation is performed by both parents, and it is during this period that 
they are most wary against the detection of their treasures. I have seen one 
bird dive into the nesting tree, make the change at the nest and the other bird 
leave, so rapidly, that it seemed as though but the one bird had entered and 
left the tree. The nest is usually built back from some open or clear space. It 
is almost useless to look in the first fringe of trees about the clearing; usually 
the nest is to be found in the second or third row of trees from the opening. 
The only exception I have ever noted was a nest in a live oak in the middle of 
