Breeding of V. Solitarius in Bristol 
County, Mass. 
BY F. W. ANDROS. 
The only nest with the eggs of this bird that 
has been taken in this county to my knowl- 
edge, previous to this season, was found by Mr. 
P. II. Carpenter at ltaynham, Mass., on June 
6th, 1885, (see Pub. No. 3, Bristol Ornithological 
Club, 1887). It therefore gives me great pleas- 
ure to be. able to add another authentic instance 
to the one quoted above. Mr. P. T. Lincoln, 
while collecting for me in the same town men- 
tioned above, came across a beautiful nest of 
this bird on May 30th, 18S7. It was placed in 
a walnut tree on the edge of a large pine grove, 
about six feet from the ground, and is the 
handsomest as well as the largest nest I have 
ever seen made by this family. It is composed 
externally of strips of fibrous bark, beech 
leaves, strips of dried grass, pieces of hornet’s 
nest, plant down and caterpillar's silk; woven 
in with this and outside of all, is some very fine 
white cotton that the builders had access to in 
some way or other. I have an idea it is pieces 
that I left in that neighborhood while in quest 
of the “Buteos” late in April. This is lined 
with pine needles and a few dry stiff strips of 
grass. The bird sat very close and was ex- 
amined under similar circumstances as in the 
foregoing case. The nest held three slightly 
incubated eggs at this date, showing that they 
nest earlier than the other well-known birds of 
this family. Mr. Lincoln has since informed 
me that he knows of a certain tract of woodland 
in this county where several pairs breed annu- 
ally, but he has never seen them outside of this 
plac &.&0. XII. Sept. 1887 P.16d 
Nesting of the Blue-headed Vireo. 
BY C. M. JONES, EASTFOR1), CONN. 
These vireos, Viren solitnris. are common 
Spring migrants in the North Eastern part of 
Connecticut. Not so numerous in the Fall, and 
are rare as Summer residents. During the 
present season of 18S(i T have become more 
familiar with their nesting habits than ever 
before. 
The first nest which l ever saw, 1 discovered 
quite accidentally, by seeing the parent bird 
feeding her young. Tills was on the last day 
of May, 1880. The nest contained one addled 
egg, and four young birds so large that they 
completely filled the nest, i did not see another 
nest until the sixth of June, 1885. This, like 
the preceding one, was in a Laurel bush, and 
about eight feet from the ground. The male 
bird was on the nest, and n brave little fellow 
hi' was. I jarred the bush quite violently sev- 
eral limes, but he refused to leave. I then 
picked up a short piece of a tree top, to which 
the branches were attached, and stood it against 
the Laurel, forming a sort of rude ladder up 
which I climbed. But in spite of all the shak- 
ing which this caused, the bird stuck to his 
post, and I actually took hold of his bill will) 
my thumb and lingers and lipped him ofl' the 
nest. On looking into the nest I found it con- 
tained two eggs of the Vireo and one of the 
Cow Bunting. They were nearly ready to . 
hatch, as their dark color plainly indicated. 
On May 14th, 1880, 1 discovered one of these 
birds just beginning to build a nest, in a Laurel, 
and about seven feet from the ground. On the 
27th it contained four eggs, and incubation had 
commenced. The same, day I found another 
nest nearly finished. This was also in a Laurel, 
The birds were near by, and the male was sing- 
ing loudly, but 1 think they saw me examining 
the nest, for they did no more to it, though I 
heard the male singing there for several days 
after. 
On tiie 28th of May 1 found another nest con- 
taining three eggs, with incubation advanced 
four or five days. It was about five feet from 
the ground, and suspended near the end of a 
long, horizontal branch of a Hemlock tree. 1 
did not notice it until the bird flew off, though I 
was not a yard from it. The moment she left 
the nest she became very demonstrative, flutter- 
ing close up to me, and uttering loud cries; in 
this respect behaving quite differently from the 
other bird, doubtless owing to the fact that incu- 
bation was more advanced. 
Again, on the 10th of June, 1 found sti-ll 
another nest from which the young had al- 
ready flown. 
From this somewhat brief experience with 
these birds, 1 conclude that they habitually 
nest quite early, sometimes having the young 
hatched before the Hod-eyed Vireos begin to 
build. The nests, as compared with those of 
the Bed-eyed Vireo, appear rather more bulky, 
having thicker walls. This is especially the 
ease with the one which I took on the 28th of 
May, it being heavily lined on the outside with 
some wooly substance, pieces of lichen and 
strips of thin white bark which I think were 
taken from the White Birch. The eggs from 
this nest are somewhat smaller than ( hose taken 
before;, are not so clear white, but with a 
somewhat rosy flush. The spots are much 
larger and the eggs taper less toward the small 
end - 0.& O. XII, Feb. 1837. p. 4 6 - 
/?6 
