_Muscicapa olivacea_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 327 (based on
EDWARDS, tab. 253, and CATESBY, pl. liv).—WILS. _Lanius
olivaceus_, LICHT. Verz. 1823, 49 (N. Amer.). _Vireo olivaceus_,
VIEILL.; BON.; SWAINS. II.—AUD.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
331.—SAMUELS, Birds N. Eng. 270. _Vireosylvia oliv._ BON. Geog.
Comp. List, 1838.—IB. Consp. 1850, 329.—REINHARDT, Vid. Med. f.
1853, 1854, 82 (Greenland).—IB. Ibis, III, 7.—SCLATER, P. Z. S.
1855, 151 (Bogota); 1859, 137, 363 (Xalapa).—A. & E. NEWTON, Ibis,
1859, 145.—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1859, 12 (Guatemala).—LAWRENCE,
Ann. N. Y. Lyc. VII, 1860, 246 (Cuba).—? Ibis, 1864, 394 (Derby,
Engl. May, 1859).—BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 1864, 333. _Phyllomanes
oliv._ CAB. Mus. Hein. 1850-51, 63.—IB. Jour. 1860, 404 (Costa
Rica).—GUNDL. Cab. Jour. 1861, 324 (Cuba; very rare). _? Vireo
virescens_, VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. I, 1807, 84, pl. liii
(Penna.).—? GRAY, Genera, I, 267, pl. lxv. _Vireo bogotensis_,
BRYANT, Pr. Bost. Soc. VII, 1860, 227 (Bogota).—LAWRENCE, Ann. N.
Y. Lyc. 1863 (Birds Panama, IV, No. 378).
[Line drawing: _Vireo olivaceus._
40089]
SP. CHAR. (No. 1,418 ♂, Carlisle, Penn., May, 1844.) Upper parts
olive-green. Top of head, from bill to nape, ash-color. A white line
from nostrils above and beyond the eye, bordered above by a dusky line
forming the edge of the ashy cap, and below by a similar, perhaps
paler, loral and post-ocular cheek-stripe. Beneath, including tibiæ,
white, with perhaps a tinge of olivaceous-ash across the breast; the
sides of the neck like the back; sides of the body with a faint wash
of olive. Axillars and crissum faintly tinged with sulphur-yellow;
lining of wings and its edge, the latter especially, nearly white.
Quills blackish-brown, edged externally, except at ends of primaries,
with olive, internally with white. Tail-feathers lighter brown, edged
externally like the back, internally with pale olivaceous-white. Bill
dusky above, pale below; tarsi plumbeous; iris red. Length, 6.33;
extent of wings, 10.25; wing, 3.33; tail, 2.50.
_Female_ similar, but duller in plumage.
HAB. Whole of Eastern North America (Greenland, Halifax, Fort
Simpson), west to base of Rocky Mountains, reaching Fort Bridger, and
still farther northward to Bitterroot Mountains and Kootenay; south to
Panama and Bogota, in winter (Xalapa only in Mexico); very rare in
Cuba (only West Indian locality). Accidental in England. Trinidad.
(FINSCH.)
[Illustration: _Vireo olivaceus._]
HABITS. The common Red-eyed Vireo is an abundant species throughout
Eastern North America, from Florida to Nova Scotia on the northeast,
to Lake Winnepeg on the northwest, and as far west as the Rocky
Mountains. It apparently breeds wherever found, and in especial
abundance in the Central States. It is a familiar and fearless
species, often found, like the Warbling Vireo, in the very midst of
crowded cities, and making its lively and pleasant notes heard in
their public squares and private gardens, amid the ruder sounds of the
neighboring streets. It breeds in Texas and Louisiana, at the
Southwest, and also in abundance, at least as far as Halifax, in the
opposite direction. At Fort Resolution, at the Cumberland House, and
at Fort Simpson, the nests and eggs of this species were procured by
Kennicott and Ross. A single specimen of the bird has been procured in
Greenland, and another accidental specimen was shot in England.
Specimens have also been procured in Central America.
This Vireo, like all of its peculiar and well-marked genus, prefers
the forests or the tops of large and shady trees, obtains its food
usually among, their upper branches, and very rarely approaches the
ground. It is not exclusively sylvan, as at times it may be found
around dwellings, hunting for insects and spiders; and although it
hunts for food among the tree-tops, its nest is not always in such
high situations, often not more than four or five feet from the
ground.
In their migrations these birds enter the United States early in
March, but do not make their appearance in Pennsylvania until the last
of April, or in New England until the middle of May.
The Vireos procure their food, for the most part, by moving about and
along branches, and among the twigs of trees, hopping from one
position to another, and securing their prey without the click of a
Flycatcher. The insects they capture are usually not in motion, though
occasionally they will take them on the wing. They also feed on
several kinds of ripe berries in the autumn.
The song of this Vireo is loud, musical, simple, and pleasing. It is
uttered in short, emphatic bars, and at times has a very marked
resemblance to the melodious chant of the Robin, though without its
volume and power. This Vireo is one of the earliest of our spring
musicians, as it is also one of the most constant and untiring in its
song, continuing to sing long after most of the other vocalists have
become silent, and even until it is about to leave us, at the close of
September. The tender and pathetic utterances of this Vireo, uttered
with so much apparent animation, to judge from their sound, are in
striking contrast to the apparent indifference or unconsciousness of
the little vocalist who, while thus delighting the ear of the
listener, seems to be all the while chiefly bent on procuring its
daily supply of food, which it pursues with unabated ardor.
This Vireo builds the neat pensile nest of its race, suspending it
from the fork of two or more twigs of a forest tree, at various
heights of from five to fifty feet from the ground. It is cup-like in
shape, and always dependent from small twigs, around which its upper
edges are firmly bound. Externally it is woven of various materials,
fine strips of bark, the hempen fibres of vegetables, and webs of
spiders and of various caterpillars. These are compactly pressed and
woven, and, as some suppose, agglutinated by the saliva of the
builder. Sometimes the unmanageable materials give to the outside of
the nest a rude and unfinished appearance, at others they are evenly
and smoothly wrought. They are very strong, uninjured by the storms of
winter, and are often made use of by other birds, by mice, and even by
the same bird a second season.
A nest of this bird (S. I. Coll., 3,353) was obtained at the
Cumberland House by Mr. Kennicott. It is pensile, like all others, but
is composed almost exclusively of pine-needles,—a dry and hard
material, difficult of management in making such a nest. With these
are intermingled a few bits of moss, fine strips of bark, and
flax-like vegetable fibres. Within this rude basket is an inner nest,
made up of fine dry grasses, strips of bark, and pine leaves. The
external fabric is loosely put together,—an unusual feature,—but the
inner portion, in the firmness and strength with which it was made, is
in remarkable contrast.
The Red-eyed Vireo’s nest is often chosen by the Cowbird for the
deposition of her parasitic eggs, and these foster-parents are
singularly devoted in the care of their alien guests, whom they
tenderly nurture, even to the neglect of their own offspring. In one
instance three eggs of a Cowbird were deposited in the nest of the
Vireo before any of her own, and, without laying any, the female Vireo
proceeded to sit upon and hatch the intruders. In another case, where
two of the Vireo’s had been laid, two Cowbird’s eggs were added. The
Vireo stopped laying, and proceeded to incubate. In each instance the
female Vireo seemed to forego her own natural aspirations, and at once
conform to the new situation.
The male Vireo often evinces great courage and spirit in the defence
of his nest, when the young are hatched driving away intruders, and
even flying in the face of a man who approaches too near.
Mr. Nuttall states that the young of the Red-eyed Vireo feed eagerly
upon the berries of the cornel and the _Viburnum dentatum_, and other
shrubs. A young bird kept in confinement soon became very gentle, and
readily ate flies and grasshoppers from his hand, and viburnum
berries. A tame Kingbird in the same room was very jealous of and
tyrannized over him, so as to compel him to seek protection from his
captor. The Vireos, like Flycatchers, have the power to regurgitate by
the bill pellets of indigestible portions of their food.
The eggs of this Vireo vary greatly in size, according to the
locality; the farther south the smaller they are found. One, marked on
the shell East Tennessee, June 1, 1858, Alex. Gerhardt, measures .78
by .52 of an inch, while one from Halifax, Nova Scotia, measures .95
by .65. The ground-color of all is a clear crystal-white, and they are
marked chiefly at the larger end with spots and finer dots of
red-brown.
Mr. Robert Kennicott, in his notes, speaks of finding a nest of the
Red-eyed Vireo at the Cumberland House, Saskatchewan, June 28.
Incubation had not yet commenced. The pensile and neatly built nest
was suspended about four feet from the ground, upon a hazel-bush. The
parent, when scared from it, remained near until she was killed.
Vireosylvia flavoviridis, CASSIN.