Nesting of the Yellow-throated Vireo. 
BY FRANK L. FARLEY, ST. THOMAS, ONTARIO. 
Previous to this summer I was unacquainted 
with this bird. Ou tile 6th of last May, while 
walking through a piece of high woods, the 
notes of a strange bird struck my ear. At the 
time 1 thought it was a Vireo, but not knowing 
what species, I raised my gun and brought 
down a Yellow-throated Vireo (Vireo flavi- 
frons ). This was the first I had ever met with. 
Between that date and the 18th of .Tune I did 
not hear nor see another specimen, but on the 
last mentioned date, while following a path ad- 
joining the woods before referred to, I heard 
the scolding notes of some small bird. Look- 
ing up more from curiosity than anything else, 
l saw a little bird perched among the branches 
of a tall tree. At first sight, I knew it was this 
species, ft kept up a continual “left,” “/c/t,” 
“Toft," and thinking some cause existed for its 
apparent distress, 1 examined more closely and 
soon discovered a nest some forty feet from the 
ground, on the first limb of a lofty maple. It 
was a very difficult tree to climb and when the 
limb was reached I saw my work had only just 
begun. With my legs entwined around the 
tree and my hands battling with the mosquitoes, 
(at this time of the year swarming the woods) 
1 had little means left for transacting business 
with my little feathered friends. However, 
after great exertion, I was well repaid by se- 
curing a very handsome set of eggs and the 
Editor O. <6 O.: 
On the 21st of June just passed, I saw what 
to mo was an interesting as well as a novel 
sight. Just after leaving the dinner table f 
noticed an adult Yellow - throated Vireo on a 
clothes-line under a large maple tree; she was 
calling and seemed uneasy. Suspecting what 
the trouble was, I went out and found a young 
Vireo just old enough to leave the nest. On 
getting closer he started and flew to the base 
of the tree trunk, alighting about a foot from 
the ground. After looking around an instant 
it commenced a series of hops diagonally back 
and forth, each hop carrying him from one to 
six inches higher. In this way he climbed to a 
height of fifteen feot, following a nearly straight 
perpendicular liixo. Ho then got on to a small 
limb that lay along side of the tree trunk. 
During this time the old bird was catching 
insects and encouraging the young by alight- 
ing over it and calling. The climber occupied 
a full five minutes in the ascent, having to rest 
frequently. jj. ’j\ ,/ 
Bethel, Conn. 
Nov. 1887.] AND OC 
finest nest I ever saw. With the exception of 
being deeper, it is the shape of the Bed-eyed 
Vireo’s nest (Vireo olivacea). The dimensions 
of it are depth three inches and breadth about 
the same; the walls are quite thick. Outward- 
ly it is composed of small bits of green moss, 
bits of wasps' nests and a very line white mate- 
rial which I think is the capsules of spiders' 
nests. The lining is of the same material as 
the Bed-eye’s. The eggs are pearly white, 
with large spots of chestnut forming a ring 
around the larger end. The average size of the 
nest complement is .75 x .58 inches, making the 
eggs nearly spherical in shape. At the date of 
taking the above set iucubatiou was far ad- 
vanced. 
I think the Yellow-throated Vireo will be 
found more common in Ontario as the collec- 
tors increase. Their favorite homes during 
their sojourn with us are in the high woods, so 
common to this Province. Their song is com- 
posed of live or six syllables emitted with 
much vigor. 
In my estimation this species ranks the high- 
est in the family ( Vireonidce ) for song and 
p l Umaff b.&0. XU. Nov. 1687 p. 
O.&O. XIV. 1889 p. 
