176 SINGING BIRDS. 
last material and fine root- fibres ; but the finishing layer, as if 
to preserve elasticity, is of rather coarse grass-stalks. Exter- 
nally the nest is coated over with green lichen, attached very 
artfully by .slender strings of caterpillars’ silk, and the whole 
afterwards tied over by almost invisible threads of the same, so 
as to appear as if glued on ; and the entire fabric now resem- 
bles an accidental knot of the tree grown over with moss. 
The food of this species during the summer is insects, but 
towards autumn they and their young feed also on various 
small berries. About the middle of September the whole move 
off and leave the United States, probably to winter in tropical 
America. 
Nuttall followed the older authors in naming the forest as the 
favorite haunt of this species. Later observers consider that it 
frequents orchards and fields quite as much as the woods, and it is 
reported as common in the gardens near Boston. 
It occurs throughout the New England and Middle States as 
far west as Iowa, and in Manitoba, where it is common. It has 
not been found in the Maritime Provinces, but is common near 
Montreal and in Ontario. 
BLUE-HEADED VIREO. 
SOLIT.ARY VIREO. 
ViREO SOLITARIUS. 
Ch.^r. Above, bright olive ; line from nostril to and around the eyes 
whitish ; crown and sides of head bluish ash ; beneath, white, sides and 
flanks shaded with olive and yellow ; wings dusky with two bars of 
yellowish white ; tail dusky, feathers edged with white. Length 5 to 6 
inches. 
Nest. Suspended from fork of branch of low tree or bush ; composed 
of grass or vegetable fibre, ornamented with moss or lichens, lined with 
grass and pi an t down. 
Eggs. Creamy white, spotted, in wreath around larger end, with bright 
brown; 0.80 X 0.50. 
This is one of the rarest species of the genus, and from 
Georgia to Pennsylvania seems only as a straggler or acci- 
dental visitor. 
