400 
VIREOS 
dead leaves, lined with stems and sometimes hairs. Eggs: usually 4, 
white, thinly spotted around larger end with reddish brown. 
Food. — Insects and their larvae. 
The Bell vireo is a common bird in its range, abounding in the 
plum thickets of Nebraska, dense patches of brush and briers in 
Kansas, and the tangled mesquite woods of southern Texas. 
Its song, like that of many vireos, is heard all through the hot 
noonday hours. It resembles that of the white-eye, but leaves off 
the interrogative eh ? after the who-are-you ? It has a harsh, scold¬ 
ing note, Mr. Henshaw says, which it often repeats as it goes 
through the brush searching for food. 
633.1. Vireo pusillus Coues. Least Vireo. 
Adults. — Upper parts gray, faintly tinged with olive on rump, wings, 
and tail; wings with one and sometimes two narrow bars; lores gray and 
white; under parts white, sides washed with olive. Young: lores wholly 
white ; top of head and hind neck pale brown ; back dull green, rump 
greenish. Length: 4.80-5.25, wing 2.10-2.30, tail 2.03-2.20, bill from 
nostril .25-.2D, tarsus .70- 80. 
Distribution. — Upper and Lower Sonoran zones in Arizona and Califor¬ 
nia ; south to Cape St. Lucas and northwestern Mexico. 
Nest. — In bushes, in thickets. Eggs: 3 or 4, white, lightly dotted with 
brown, more thickly around the larger end. 
The least vireo is common in southern California in the willow 
regions and along streams up to the foothills. 
634. Vireo vicinior Coues. Gray Vireo. 
Adults. — Upper parts and sides of head dull gray , with faint tinge of 
greenish on rump; lores and orbital ring white; wings brownish with 
wing band indistinct or wanting; under parts clouded grayish white. 
Young: like adults, but upper parts with brownish tinge and wing bar 
buffy white. Length : 5.60-5.75, wing 2.50-2.60, tail 2.40-2.55. 
Remarks. — The gray vireo differs from the plumbeous in its duller, 
less sharply contrasted coloration and absence of striking wing bars. 
Distribution. — From western Texas to southern California and from 
southern Nevada to northwestern Mexico. 
' Nest. — In thorny bushes or trees, 4 to 6 feet from the ground, some¬ 
times supported underneath or on sides so that it is not pensile ; made of 
loosely woven coarse grass and mesquite bark lined with fine grasses. 
Eggs : 3 or 4, white, sparsely marked with irregular spots, chiefly around 
larger end. 
In the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains Mr. Scott found 
the gray vireo breeding in comparative abundance where the oaks 
begin at the upper edge of the mesquite. 
Mr. Henshaw found it in New Mexico frequenting rocky hills cov¬ 
ered with scanty growth of bushes and scrub. In hunting, he says 
it takes a middle line between that of the treetop solitary vireos 
and the low hunting white-eyed group, spending most of its time 
