nicely done as to appear to be glued on. The whole fabric was thus made to resemble an accidental 
knot of the tree, grown over with moss.” 
The few nests of this species which I have seen have corresponded closely with the first two described 
above. It is to be expected that occasionally a nest will be found which is elaborately covered with 
lichens. 
EGGS: 
The complement in a set varies from three to five. Five are seldom found, however. They measure 
from .82 to .95 of an inch in long-diameter, and from .59 to .66 in short-diameter. A common size is 
about .61 x .88. The ground-color of the shell is pure white. The markings consist of blotches, spots, 
and speckles of a very dark brown, scattered sparingly over the shell, generally, however, decidedly the 
most numerous at the base. Occasionally a few spots are confluent. Deep shell-marks are gray, and 
sometimes nearly as plentiful as surface marks. Dr. Brewer, page 381, Yol. 1, “North American Birds,” 
says : “ The ground-color is white, often with a very perceptible tint of roseate when fresh. In this 
respect they differ in a very marked manner from the eggs of any other of this genus, except, perhaps, 
the barbatula, and may thus always be easily recognized. They are more or less boldly marked with 
blotches of a dark roseate-brown, also peculiar to the eggs of this species, though varying greatly in their 
size and depth of color.” 
DIFFERENTIAL POINTS: 
But four of the Yireos have so far been found breeding in Ohio. Of these the Red -eyed is the most 
plentiful. The Warbling Yireo is nearly as numerous, while the remaining two are about equally scarce. 
It is not a very difficult task to designate substantial differences between the nests and eggs of these 
species when they are compared with each other, or even with certain exceptions, to tell their nests and 
eggs at sight, in spite of their similarity. The points of variance between the first two species men- 
tioned have already been given. It remains only to speak of the nests and eggs of the White-eyed and 
Yellow-throated Yireos when compared with the other two. The nest of flavifrons is distinctive and can 
always be recognized from that of any of the Yireos, as well as from that of any other bird, by its being 
a lichen covered pensile nest. The nest of noveboracensis is usually recognizable by its dimensions. See 
page 167. 
The eggs of the Vireos stand in size in the order named below : 
L. flavifrons — long-diameter, .82 to .95 ; short-diameter, .59 to .66. 
Y. olivaceus — “ .75 to .95; “ .52 to .66. 
Y. noveboracensis — “ .73 to .83 ; “ .50 to .60. 
Y- gilvus — “ .68 to .70 ; “ .51 to .60. 
The ground-color of all is the same. The size, shape, and color of markings is also about the same; there 
is though a slight difference in their quantity, flavifrons probably containing the most, and noveboracensis 
the fewest, while gilvus contains more than olivaceus. 
REMARKS : 
The nest and eggs illustrated, Plate LXI, Fig. 1, were found the 26th day of June, 1882. The 
eggs arc a little smaller than the average, but they show well the variations in markings. They measure 
respectively, .82 x .59, .84 x .60, and .84 x .60. The nest was built in a little wood adjoining an orchard, 
in a horizontal fork about eight feet from the ground. It is typical in size, shape, and position, but is 
probably more elaborately covered with lichens than is usual. 
242 
