_Vireo vicinior_, COUES, Pr. A. N. Sc. Phila. 1866.—BAIRD, Rev. Am.
B. 361.—ELLIOT, Illust. Birds N. A. I, vii.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1,
1870, 125.
[Line drawing: _Vireo vicinior._
40697]
SP. CHAR. (No. 40,697 ♂.) Bill stout, considerably compressed and
deep. Wings moderately pointed, about equal to tail, which is
decidedly graduated; first quill rather more than half the second,
which about equals ninth and the secondaries; the fourth and fifth
longest. Tarsus considerably longer than middle toe and claw; lateral
toes quite conspicuous for their disproportion, the inner claw
reaching only to base of outer, and falling short of base of middle;
the terminal digit of inner toe reaching only to end of second joint
of middle toe.
Upper parts, with sides of head and neck, ashy or light plumbeous,
faintly olivaceous on rump. Beneath white; slightly ashy on sides of
breast. Flanks and inside of wings showing a faint trace of yellow,
only appreciable on raising the wings. An obsolete line from bill to
eye, and a more distinct ring round the eye, white. No bands on the
wing, except a faint edging of whitish on the greater coverts; the
quills edged internally with white. Bill and legs plumbeous. “Iris
brown. Mouth livid, bluish-white.” (COUES.)
Fresh specimen: Total length, 5.60; expanse of wings, 8.60. Prepared
specimen: Total length, 5.10; wing, 2.50; tail, 2.60, its graduation,
.22; difference of tenth and longest quills, .40; exposed portion of
first primary, .85, of second, 1.65, of longest (measured from exposed
base of first primary), 1.95; length of bill from forehead, .50, from
nostril, .32, along gape, .61; depth of bill, .18; tarsus, .72; middle
toe and claw, .51, claw alone, .16; hind toe and claw, .40, claw
alone, .19.
HAB. Prescott, Arizona.
This species might at first sight be taken for a small specimen of _V.
plumbeus_, the colors, character of bill, etc., being very similar,
except that the white of lores and around eye is much less distinct,
the lore without any blackish before the eye, and there is only one
faint band on wing, instead of two conspicuous ones; the
tail-feathers, too, lack the distinct white edgings. The much more
rounded wing, and the first primary half the second or more, will,
however, readily distinguish them. The form of the bird is very much
that of _V. pusillus_, which it resembles considerably also in color.
The outer quill is, however, longer, the bill deeper and more
compressed, the inner lateral toe considerably shorter, and the size
larger. The colors are purer, without the olive of the back or the
yellowish of the under parts; the bill, too, is entirely dark
plumbeous, instead of horn-color, whitish beneath. From _V. pallens_
it is distinguished by a smaller, darker bill; longer tail and wing;
one wing-band, not two; and purer colors.
HABITS. In regard to the habits of this well-marked but very rare
species but little is as yet known. It was first described, in 1866,
by Dr. Coues, from a single specimen obtained by him near Fort
Whipple, Arizona. It was shot May 4, 1865, and is supposed by Dr.
Coues to be a summer resident of Arizona wintering in the Gila and the
Lower Colorado Valleys, or in Sonora.