1908 
May 18 
st of 
Solitary 
Vireo — 
3 eggs 
* * * * * * * * 
In the oak woods lying between Birch Island and Green 
Field I found the nest of a Solitary Vireo this afternoon. 
It held three fresh eggs prettily marked with fine spots of 
reddish brown. I was attracted to it by the anxious scolding 
notes of the parent birds who were mobbing a Jay. They 
darted about his head like angry bees, striking at [him] from 
above with their bills and evidently annoying him a good 
deal although he kept on hopping from twig to twig, peering 
under every leaf as if he thought it might conceal a bird* s 
nest. Perhaps, after all, he was merely looking for brown 
tails (for I saw him tear one of their nests open and scatter 
the contents with a quick shake of the head) but the Vireos 
were evidently convinced that he was seeking their treasures. 
After he had flown away they continued in the tops of some 
tall oaks where they had been with the Jay. Of course I 
knew their nest must be lower down and after waiting for 
some time in the vain hope that one of them would go to it 
I began to look for it among some small bushy white pines 
that grew under the oaks. 
Within less than a minute I discovered it in one of 
these pines at a height of only about five feet and within 
twenty yards of where I had been standing. The light gray 
and yellowish coloring of its outer surface and the shaggy 
character of the material made it very conspicuous among the 
dark green foliage of the pine, which was not dense enough 
