Chapter XVI: Part 16

Description.—_Adults_: A conspicuous crest; extreme forehead, lores,
and line thru eye velvety-black; chin blackish, fading rapidly into
the rich grayish-brown of remaining fore-parts and head; a narrow
whitish line bordering the black on the forehead and the blackish of
the chin; back darker, shading thru ash of rump to blackish-ash of
tail; tail-feathers abruptly tipped with gamboge yellow; belly sordid
yellow; under tail-coverts white; wings slaty-gray, primaries narrowly
edged with whitish; secondaries and inner quills without white
markings, but bearing tips of red “sealing-wax”; the tail-feathers are
occasionally found with the same curious, horny appendages; bill
black; feet plumbeous. Sexes alike, but considerable individual
variation in number and size of waxen tips. _Young_, streaked
everywhere with whitish, and usually without red tips. Length
6.50-7.50 (165.1-190.5); wing 3.70 (94); tail 2.31 (58.7); bill .40
(10.2).

Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; soft grayish-brown plumage; crest;
red sealing-wax tips on secondaries; belly yellow; wings without white
bars or spots, as distinguished from preceding species.

Nesting.—_Nest_, a bulky affair of leaves, grasses, bark-strips and
trash, well lined with rootlets and soft materials; placed in crotch
or horizontally saddled on limb of orchard or evergreen tree. _Eggs_,
3-6, dull grayish blue or putty-color, marked sparingly with deep-set,
rounded spots of umber or black. Av. size, .86 × .61 (21.8 × 15.5).
_Season_: June, July; two broods.

General Range.—North America at large, from the Fur Countries
southward. In winter from the northern border of the United States
south to the West Indies and Costa Rica. Breeds from Virginia, Kansas,
Oregon, etc., northward.

Range in Washington.—Of regular occurrence in the State, but irregular
or variable locally. Resident, but less common in winter.

Authorities.—_Ampelis cedrorum_ Baird, Cooper and Suckley, Rep. Pac.
R. R. Surv. XII. pt. II. 1860, p. 187. T. C&S. Rh. D¹. Kb. Ra. D².
Ss². Kk. B. E.

Specimens.—(U. of W.) Prov. P. B. E.

One does not care to commit himself in precise language upon the range of the Cedarbird, or to predict that it will be found at any given spot in a given season. The fact is, Cedarbirds are gypsies of the feathered kind. There are always some of them about somewhere, but their comings and goings are not according to any fixed law. A company of Cedarbirds may throng the rowan trees in your front yard some bleak day in December; they may nest in your orchard the following July; and you may not see them on your premises again for years—unless you keep cherry trees. It must be confessed (since the shade of the cherry tree is ever sacred to Truth) that the Cedarbird, or “Cherrybird,” has a single passion, a consuming desire for cherries. But don’t kill him for that. You like cherries yourself. All the more reason, then, why you should be charitable toward a brother’s weakness. Besides, he is so handsome,—handsomer himself than a luscious cherry even. Feast your eyes upon him, those marvelous melting browns, those shifting saffrons and Quaker drabs, those red sealing-wax tips on the wing-quills (he is canning cherries, you see, and comes provided). Feast your eyes, I say, and carry the vision to the table with you—and a few less cherries. Or, if there are not enough for you both, draw a decent breadth of mosquito-netting over the tree, and absolve your soul of murderous intent. Remember, too, if you require self-justification, that earlier in the season he diligently devoured noxious worms and insect pests, so that he has a clear right to a share in the fruit of his labors.

Cherries are by no means the only kind of fruit eaten by these birds. Like most orchard-haunting species, they are very fond of mulberries, while the red berries of the mountain ash are a staple ration in fall and winter. Truth to tell, these beauties are sad gluttons, and they will gorge themselves at times till the very effort of swallowing becomes a delicious pain.

The Cedarbird, being so singularly endowed with the gift of beauty, is denied the gift of song. He is, in fact, the most nearly voiceless of any of the American Oscines, his sole note being a high-pitched sibilant squeak. Indeed, so high-pitched is this extraordinary note that many people, and they trained bird-men, cannot hear them at all, even when the Waxwings are squeaking all about them. It is an almost uncanny spectacle, that of a company of Waxwings sitting aloft in some leafless tree early in spring, erect, immovable, like soldiers on parade, but complaining to each other in that faint, penetrating monotone. It is as tho you had come upon a company of the Immortals, high-removed, conversing of matters too recondite for human ken, and surveying you the while with Olympian disdain. You steal away from the foot of the tree with a chastened sense of having encountered something not quite understandable.

The dilatory habits of these birds are well shown in their nesting, which they put off until late June or July, for no apparent reason. In constructing the nest the birds use anything soft and pliable which happens to catch the eye. Some specimens are composed entirely of the green hanging mosses, while others are a complicated mixture of twigs, leaves, rootlets, fibers, grasses, rags, string, paper, and what not. The nest may be placed at any moderate height up to fifty feet, and a great variety of trees are used altho orchard trees are favorites. The birds are half gregarious, even in the nesting season, so that a small orchard may contain a dozen nests, while another as good, a little way removed, has none. In the Nooksack Valley, near Glacier, Mr. Brown showed me a tiny pasture carved out of the woods, where he had found, during the previous season, six nests of the Cedarbird, placed at heights ranging from three to six feet above the ground in small clumps of vine maple or alder saplings. In Chelan we found them nesting in the tops of the solitary pine trees which line the stream.

The female sits closely upon her eggs, not infrequently remaining until forcibly removed. Once off, however, she makes away without complaint, and pays no further attention to the incident until the intruder has departed.

Always of a most gentle disposition, when the nesting season arrives, according to Mr. Bowles, these birds richly deserve the name of Love Birds. A leaf from his note-book supports the statement: “July 7, 1896. To-day I watched two Cedarbirds selecting a nesting site, first one location being tested, then another. Finally they decided upon a suitable place and commenced picking both dry and green leaves from the surrounding trees, placing them upon a horizontal limb where two or three twigs projected. Almost all of these leaves blew off as soon as placed, greatly to the surprise of the birds, who solemnly watched them drop to the ground. These fallen leaves were never replaced, fresh ones being gathered instead, and these were always secured from growing trees. Then one got a long strip of plant silk and, placing it on the leaf foundation flew a foot or two away and lit. The other bird promptly took away the silk and brought it to its mate, who very gently took it and put it back. This operation was repeated again and again. At times both held the silk, sitting only an inch or two apart, whereupon the bird who was the original finder would, _very gently_, pull it from the bill of its mate and replace it. At the end of fifteen minutes of this loving passage I was obliged to retire, and I shall never know whether the plant fiber was successfully placed or merely worn out.”

_Laniidæ_—The Shrikes

No. 135.
NORTHERN SHRIKE.

A. O. U. No. 621. Lanius borealis Vieill.

Synonyms.—Great Northern Shrike. Butcher-bird.

Description.—_Adult_: Upperparts clear, bluish gray, lightest—almost
white—on upper tail-coverts; extreme forehead whitish; wings and tail
black, the former with a conspicuous white spot at base of primaries,
the latter with large, white terminal blotches on outer feathers,
decreasing in size inwardly; a black band through eye, including
auriculars; below grayish white, the feathers of the breast and sides
narrowly tipped with dusky, producing a uniform, fine vermiculation
which is always present; bill blackish, lightening at base of lower
mandible; feet black. _Young_ birds are barred or washed with grayish
brown. The plumage of adult is sometimes overcast above with a faint
olivaceous tinge. Length 9.25-10.75 (235-273.1); wing 4.50 (114.3);
tail 4.19 (106.4); bill .72 (18.3); tarsus 1.07 (27.3).

Recognition Marks.—Robin size; gray and black coloring; sharply hooked
bill; breast vermiculated with dusky, as distinguished from next
species.

Nesting.—Does not breed in Washington. _Nest_: a well constructed bowl
of sticks, thorn-twigs, grasses, and trash, heavily lined with
plant-down and feathers; in bushes or low trees. _Eggs_: 3-7, dull
white or greenish gray, thickly dotted and spotted with olive-green,
brown, or lavender. Av. size, 1.07 × .78 (27.2 × 19.8).

General Range.—Northern North America; south in winter to the middle
and southern portions of the United States. Breeds north of the United
States except sparingly in northern New England.

Range in Washington.—Spring and fall migrant and not common winter
resident thruout the State, chiefly at lower levels.

Authorities.—? Townsend, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. VIII. 1839, 152
(Columbia River). Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX. 1858, 325. C&S. D¹.
Ra. D². B. E.

Specimens.—(U. of W.) P¹. Prov. B. E.

Flitting like a gray ghost in the wake of the cheerful hosts of Juncoes and Redpolls, comes this butcher of the North in search of his accustomed prey. If it is his first visit south he posts himself upon the tip of a tree and rasps out an inquiry of the man with the gun. Those that survive these indiscretions are thereafter faintly descried in the distance, either in the act of diving from some anxious summit, or else winging swiftly over the inequalities of the ground.

All times are killing time for this bloodthirsty fellow, and even in winter he “jerks” the meat not necessary for present consumption—be it chilly-footed mouse or palpitating Sparrow—upon some convenient thorn or splinter. In spring the north-bound bird is somewhat more amiable, being better fed, and he pauses from time to time during the advance to sing a strange medley, which at a little remove sounds like a big electric buzz. This is meant for a love song, and is doubtless so accepted by the proper critics, but its rendition sometimes produces about the same effect upon a troop of Finches, which a cougar’s serenade does upon a cowering deer.

Experts try to make out that this creature is beneficial, on the whole, because of the insects he devours, but I have seen too much good red blood on this butcher’s beak myself. My gun is loaded!

Suckley writing in the Fifties remarks the scarcity of all Shrikes in Oregon or Washington “Territories,” and this is fortunately still true, especially west of the Cascades. The probable explanation is that the mild climate of the Pacific slope of Alaska retards or prevents the southward movement of the more hardy species.

No. 136.
WHITE-RUMPED SHRIKE.

A. O. U. No. 622 a. Lanius ludovicianus excubitorides (Swains.).

Description.—_Adult_: Dark bluish gray above, changing abruptly to
white on upper tail-coverts; scapulars chiefly white; wings black, a
small white spot at base of primaries; the inner quills narrowly
tipped with white; tail black, the outer pair of feathers chiefly
white, and the succeeding broadly tipped with white in descending
ratio until color disappears in two central pairs; below white
slightly soiled on breast, but everywhere strongly contrasting with
upperparts; narrow frontal line including nasal tufts, lores, and
ear-coverts, black,—continuous, and passing mostly below eye; bill and
feet black. _Immature_: Colors of adult less strongly contrasted;
lower parts washed with brownish; loral bar obscure; more or less
vermiculated with dusky all over (in younger birds), or upon the
underparts alone; ends of wing-quills, coverts, and tail-feathers
often with ochraceous or rusty markings. Length of adult male:
8.50-10.00 (215.9-254); wing 3.96 (100.6); tail 3.9 (99); bill .60
(15.3); tarsus 1.1 (28).

Recognition Marks.—Chewink to Robin size; dark gray above; whitish
below; longitudinal black patch of head; wings black and white; breast
of adult unmarked, as distinguished from both _L. borealis_ and _L. l.
gambeli_.

Nesting.—_Nest_: a bulky but well-built structure of sticks,
thorn-twigs, sage-bark, dried leaves, etc., heavily lined with wool,
hair, and feathers; placed at moderate heights in sage-brush or
sapling. _Eggs_: 5-7, dull grayish or greenish white, thickly speckled
and spotted with pale olive or reddish brown. Av. size, .97 × .73
(24.6 × 18.5). _Season_: April, June; two broods.

General Range.—Western North America from the Great Plains westward,
except Pacific Coast district and from Manitoba and the plains of
Saskatchewan south over the tablelands of Mexico; south in winter over
the whole of Mexico intergrading with _L. l. migrans_ in region of the
Great Lakes.

Range in Washington.—Common summer resident east of the Cascades,
chiefly in sage-brush country.

Authorities.—Dawson, Auk, XIV. 1897, 179. (T). D¹. D². Ss¹. Ss².

Specimens.—(U. of W.) P. C.

The brushy draws of the low lava ranges and the open sage stretches of the East-side constitute the favorite preserve of this lesser bird of prey. He arrives from the South early in March when his patchy plumage harmonizes more or less with the snow-checkered landscape, but he is nowise concerned with problems of protective coloration. Seeking out some prominent perch, usually at this time of year a dead greasewood or a fence-post, he divides his time between spying upon the early-creeping field mouse and entertaining his lady love with outlandish music. Those who have not heard the White-rumped Shrike _sing_, have missed a treat. He begins with a series of rasping sounds, which are probably intended to produce the same receptive condition in his audience which Ole Bull secured by awkwardly breaking one string after another on his violin, till only one was left. There, however, the resemblance ceases, for where the virtuoso could extract a melody of marvelous variety and sweetness from his single string, the bird produces the sole note of a struck anvil. This pours forth in successive three-syllabled phrases like the metallic and reiterative clink of a freely falling hammer. The chief difference which appears between this love song and the ordinary call of warning or excitement is that in the latter case the less tender passions have weighted the clanging anvil with scrap iron and destroyed its resonance.

The Shrike is a bird of prey but he is no restless prowler or hoverer, wearing out his wings with incessant flight—not he. Choosing rather a commanding position on a telegraph wire, or exposed bush top, he searches the ground with his eye until he detects some suspicious movement of insect, mouse, or bird. Then he dives down amongst the sage, and if successful returns to his post to devour at leisure. The bird does not remain long enough at one station to inspire a permanent dread in the local population of comestibles; but rather moves on from post to post at short intervals and in methodical fashion. In flight the bird moves either by successive plunges and noisy reascensions, or else pitches downward from his perch and wings rapidly over the surface of the vegetation.

The Sage Shrikes are prolific and attentive breeders. The first brood is brought off about the 1st of May, but fresh eggs may sometimes be found as early as the last week in March in the southern part of the State. A second brood may be expected from June 1st to 15th.

The nest is a bulky but usually well-built affair, placed habitually in a sage bush, or a greasewood clump, with wild clematis for third choice. The structure is designed for warmth and comfort, so that, whenever possible, to the thickened walls of plant fibers, cow-hair, or sheep’s wool, is added an inner lining of feathers, and these not infrequently curl over the edge so as completely to conceal the nest contents. One nest examined in Walla Walla County contained the following materials: Willow twigs, broom-sage twigs, sage bark, weed stems, dried yarrow leaves, dried sage leaves, hemp, wool, rabbit fur, horse-hair, cow-hair, chicken feathers, string, rags, and sand, besides a thick mat of finely comminuted scales, soft and shiny, the accumulated horny waste from the growing wing-quills of the crowded young—altogether a sad mess.

The parent birds are singularly indifferent as a rule to the welfare of a nest containing eggs alone. The female sits close, but once flushed, stands clinking in the distance, or else absents herself entirely. When the young are hatched, however, the old birds are capable of a spirited and deafening defense.

It is curious that in Washington we have seen no signs of the out-door larder, consisting of grasshoppers, mice, garter-snakes, etc., impaled on thorns, which the eastern birds of this species are usually careful to maintain somewhere in the vicinity of the nest. It may be simply that the lack of convenient thorns accounts for this absence, or for the failure of the habit.

Altho this bird belongs to a bad breed, one containing, among others, the notorious “_Neuntöter_,” or Ninekiller, of northern Europe, concerning which tradition maintains that it is never satisfied until it has made a kill of nine birds hand-running, the evidence seems to be overwhelmingly in its favor. Birds are found to constitute only eight per cent of this bird’s food thruout the year, while, on account of its services in ridding the land of undoubted vermin, its presence is to be considered highly beneficial.

No. 137.
CALIFORNIA SHRIKE.

A. O. U. No. 622 b. Lanius ludovicianus gambeli Ridgway.

Description.—Similar to _L. l. excubitorides_ but decidedly darker,
duller gray above; underparts more sordid, tinged with brownish or
with more or less distinct transverse vermiculation of pale brownish
gray on chest and sides of breast; averaging slightly smaller.

Recognition Marks.—As in preceding—duller.

Nesting.—As in _L. l. excubitorides_—has not yet been reported from
Washington.

General Range.—Pacific Coast district from southwestern British
Columbia to northern Lower California; south in winter to Cape St.
Lucas and western Mexico.

Range in Washington.—Rare summer resident west of the Cascades.

Authorities.—? Orn. Com., Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. VII. 1837, 193
(Columbia River). _Lanius ludovicianus excubitorides_ Lawrence, Auk,
IX. 1892, 46.

Resident Shrikes, presumably referable to this recently elaborated subspecies, are exceedingly rare in western Washington. Mr. Bowles has not seen any near Tacoma, and neither Mr. Rathbun nor myself have encountered them in Seattle. Mr. R. H. Lawrence, however, notes having seen three “White-rumped Shrikes” on June 10, 1890, in a small clearing on the Humptulips River[54].

The smaller Shrikes are birds of the open country, and they should be found in at least Lewis, Thurston, and Pierce Counties.

_Vireonidæ_—The Vireos

No. 138.
RED-EYED VIREO.

A. O. U. No. 624. Vireosylva olivacea (Linn.).

Description.—_Adult_: Crown grayish slate, bordered on either side by
blackish; a white line above the eye, and a dusky line thru the eye;
remaining upperparts light grayish olive-green; wings and tail dusky
with narrow olive-green edgings; below dull white, with a slight
greenish-yellow tinge on lining of wings, sides, flanks, and crissum;
first and fourth, and second and third primaries about equal, the
latter pair forming the tip of wing; bill blackish at base above,
thence dusky or horn-color; pale below; feet leaden blue; iris red.
Little difference with age, sex, or season, save that young and fall
birds are brighter colored. Length 5.50-6.50 (139.7-165.1); wing 3.15
(80); tail 2.10 (53.5); bill .49 (12.5); tarsus .70 (18).

Recognition Marks.—Warbler size; largest; white superciliary line
contrasting with blackish and slate of crown; red eye. Note smoother,
and utterance a little more rapid than in _L. s. cassinii_.

Nesting.—_Nest_, a semi-pensile basket or pouch, of bark-strips,
“hemp,” and vegetable fibers, lined with plant-down, and fastened by
the edges to forking twigs near end of horizontal branch, five to
twenty feet up. _Eggs_, 3 or 4, white, with black or umber specks and
spots, few in number, and chiefly near larger end. Av. size, .85 × .56
(21.6 × 14.2). _Season_: c. June 1; one brood.

General Range.—Eastern North America, west to Colorado, Utah,
Washington and British Columbia; north to the Arctic regions; south in
winter from Florida to the equator. Breeds nearly thruout its North
American range.

Range in Washington.—Imperfectly made out. Summer resident on both
sides of the Cascades. Either increasingly abundant or more observed
latterly (Brook Lake, Chelan, Stehekin, Seattle, Tacoma, Kirkland
breeding 1908).

Migrations.—_Spring_: Seattle, May 3, 1908.

Authorities.—Belding, Land Birds of the Pacific District, 1890, p.
199. (Walla Walla by J. W. Williams, 1885). Ss². B.

Specimens.—C.

We are rubbing our eyes a little bit and wondering whether the Red-eyed Vireo has really been here all the time, or whether he only slipped in while we were napping a decade or two since. Certain it is that the bird’s presence in the Pacific Northwest was unknown to the pioneers, Townsend, Cooper, Suckley, and the rest; and the first intimation we had of the occurrence of this Vireo west of the Rockies was Chapman’s record, published in 1890[55] of specimens taken at Ducks and Ashcroft, B. C. The year following, viz., August 4, 1891, a singing Red-eye was recognized by Mr. C. F. Batchelder, of Cambridge, Mass., at the Little Dalles, in this State[56]. Mr. Lyman Belding, the veteran ornithologist, of Stockton, Cal., advises me, however, that this Vireo was first seen by his friend, Dr. J. W. Williams, of Walla Walla, on June 4 and 24, 1885, and that six specimens were taken. Dr. Merrill, writing in 1897[57], records them as abundant summer visitors at Fort Sherman, Idaho; and Fannin notes their occurrence upon Vancouver Island. Messrs. C. W. and J. H. Bowles met with this species in the Puyallup Valley on June 23, 1899, when they saw and heard at least half a dozen. Mr. Bowles and I were constantly on the lookout for this bird during our East-side trip in May and June, 1906, but we failed to observe it in either Spokane or Stevens Counties. We found it first in a wooded spur of the Grand Coulee on June 13th; then commonly at Chelan, where it nested; and also at the head of Lake Chelan with Cassin Vireos right alongside. And now comes the announcement of its breeding at Kirkland where Miss Jennie V. Getty took two sets in the season of 1908.

The truth is, the Cassin Vireo has so long occupied the center of the stage here in the Northwest, that we may never know whether his cousin, Red-eye, stole a march on us from over the Rockies, or was here for a century grieving at our dullness of perception. In habit the two species are not unlike, and their ordinary notes do not advertise differences, even to the mildly observant. Those of the Red-eye are, however, higher in pitch, less mellow and soft in quality, and are rendered with more sprightliness of manner. Its soliloquizing notes are often uttered—always in single phrases of from two to four syllables each—while the bird is busily hunting, and serve to mark an overflow of good spirits rather than a studied attempt at song. His best efforts are given to the entertaining of his gentle spouse when she is brooding upon the nest. A bird to which I once listened at midday, in Ohio, had chosen for his station the topmost bare twig of a beech tree a hundred feet from the ground, and from this elevated position he poured out his soul at the rate of some fifty phrases per minute, and without intermission during the half hour he was under observation.

So thoroly possessed does our little hero become with the spirit of poesy, that when he takes a turn upon the nest he indulges, all unmindful of the danger, in frequent outbursts of song. Both birds are closely attached to the home, about which center their fears and their hopes; and well they may be, for it is a beautiful structure in itself. The nest is a semipensile cup, bound firmly by its edges to a small fork near the end of some horizontal branch of tree or bush, and usually at a height not exceeding five or ten feet. It is composed largely of fibers from weed-stalks, and fine strips of cedar or clematis bark, which also forms what little lining there is. A curious characteristic of the entire Vireo family is the attention paid to the outside instead of the inside of the nest. The outside is carefully adorned with lichens, old rags, pieces of wasp nests, or bits of newspaper, with no idea of furthering concealment, for the result is often very conspicuous. The walls are not over a third of an inch thick, but are so strong that they not infrequently weather the storms of three or four seasons.

When we came upon a female sitting contentedly in her nest in the center of a charming birch tangle in Chelan County, we had as good as photographed the eggs. We were particularly elated at our good fortune because the eggs had not yet been taken within the limits of the State. When we had watched the mild-eyed mother for ten minutes, and had lessened the distance to five feet, we began to suspect young; but when she flitted, we found nothing at all. She was only fooling.

No. 139.
WESTERN WARBLING VIREO.

A. O. U. No. 627 a. Vireosylva gilva swainsonii (Baird).

Description.—_Adult_: Above, dull ashy, almost fuscous, tinged with
olivaceous, same on pileum,—the last-named color brightest on
interscapulars, rump, and edgings of secondaries and rectrices; wings
and tail fuscous, the primaries with faint whitish edgings; no
wing-bars; first primary spurious,—only about a third as long as the
others; point of wing formed by third, fourth, and fifth primaries;
second shorter than sixth; below white with slight tinges on
sides,—buffy on sides of head and neck, olive-fuscous on sides of
breast, sulphur-yellow on sides of belly and flanks, and sometimes
vaguely on breast; lores and space about eye whitish, enclosing
obscure dusky line thru eye; bill dusky above, lighter below; feet
blackish. Length 5.00-6.00 (127-152.4); wing 2.64 (67); tail 1.94
(49.3); bill .39 (10); tarsus .69 (17.5).

Recognition Marks.—Warbler size; general absence of positive
characteristics,—altogether the plainest-colored bird of the American
avifauna.

Nesting.—_Nest_: a pensile pouch of bark-strips, grasses, vegetable
fibers, and trash, carefully lined with plant-down; hung usually from
fork of small limb, at any height. _Eggs_: 3 or 4, white, sparingly
and distinctly dotted or spotted, or, rarely, blotched with black,
umber, or reddish brown, chiefly at the larger end. Av. size .75 × .55
(19 × 13.9). _Season_: June 1-20; one brood.

General Range.—Western United States and Canada (British Columbia,
Alberta and Athabasca), breeding south to southern border of United
States and southern extremity of Lower California; south in winter
thru Mexico to Vera Cruz and Oaxaca.

Range in Washington.—Summer resident thruout the State in deciduous
timber, chiefly at lower levels.

Migrations.—_Spring_: Yakima, May 6, 1900; Seattle, May 5, 1905;
Yakima, May 4, 1906; Tacoma, May 5, 1907; Seattle, May 3, 1908.

Authorities.—? _Vireo gilvus_, Townsend, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila.,
VIII. 1839, p. 153 (Columbia River). _Vireo gilvus_ (_swainsonii_
proposed), Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv., IX. pt. II. 1858, 336. T.
C&S. L. Rh. D¹. Ra. D². J. B. E.

Specimens.—U. of W. Prov. B. BN. E.

The old-fashioned name “Greenlet,” as applied to the Vireos, was a misnomer, if a description of plumage was intended; but if it was intended to memorialize the bird’s fondness for greenery, nothing could have been more apt. The Warbling Vireo’s surroundings must be not only green, but freshly green, for it frequents only deciduous trees in groves and riverside copses. It is not an abundant bird, therefore, in Washington, altho equally distributed, whether in the willows and birches which gather about some lonesome spring in the bunch-grass country, or among the crowded alders and maples of the turbid Nooksachk. Moreover, the bird is not so frequently found about parks and shade trees as in the East, altho it looks with strong favor upon the advent of orchards. And the orchardist may welcome him with open arms, for there is not among all his tenants a more indefatigable gleaner of bugs and worms.

Because he is clad in Quaker gray there is little need for the Vireo to show himself as he sings, and he remains for the most part concealed in the dense foliage, a vocal embodiment of the living green. Unlike the disconnected fragments which the Red-eye furnishes, the song of this bird is gushing and continuous, a rapid excursion over pleasant hills and valleys. Continuous, that is, unless the bright-eyed singer happens to spy a worm _in medias res_, in which event the song is instantly suspended, to be resumed a moment later when the wriggling tid-bit has been dispatched. The notes are flute-like, tender, and melodious, having, as Chapman says, “a singular alto undertone.” All hours of the day are recognized as appropriate to melody, and the song period lasts from the time of the bird’s arrival, early in May, until its departure in September, with only a brief hiatus in July.

In sharp contrast with the beautiful canzonettes which the bird showers down from the tree-tops, come the harsh, wren-like scolding notes, which it often delivers when searching thru the bushes, and especially if it comes across a lurking cat.

The Warbling Vireo’s cradle is swung midway from the fork of some nearly horizontal branch in the depths of a shady tree. In height it may vary from fifteen to twenty-five feet above the ground; but I once found one in a peach tree without a shadow of protection, and within reach from the ground. The structure is a dainty basket of interwoven grasses, mosses, flower-stems, and the like. It is not, however, so durable as that of some other Vireos, since much of its thickness is due to an ornamental thatching of grass, bark-strips, green _usnea_ moss, and cottonwood down, which dissolves before winter is over. The female is a close sitter, sticking to her post even tho nearly paralyzed with fear. The male is usually in close attendance, and knows no way of discouraging the inquisitive bird-man save by singing with redoubled energy. He takes his turn at the eggs when his wife needs a bit of an airing, and even, it is said, carries his song with him to the nest.

No. 140.
CASSIN’S VIREO.

A. O. U. No. 629 a. Lanivireo solitarius cassinii (Xantus).

Synonym.—Western Solitary Vireo.

Description.—_Adult male_: Crown and sides of head and neck deep
olive-gray; a supraloral stripe and eye-ring whitish, the latter
interrupted by dusky of lore; remaining upperparts olive-green
overcast with gray, clearing, pure olive-green on rump and upper
tail-coverts; wings and tail blackish with edging of light olive-green
or yellowish (white on outer web of outer rectrices); tips of middle
and greater coverts yellowish olive, forming two rather conspicuous
bars; underparts white tinged with buffy, changing on sides and flanks
to sulphur yellow or pale olive; under tail-coverts yellowish; bill
grayish black above, paler below; feet dusky, iris brown. _Adult
female_: Like male but duller, browner on head and neck, less purely
white below. _Immature_: Head and neck more nearly like back;
supraloral streak, orbital ring, and underparts washed with brownish
buff. Length about 5.50 (139.7); wing 2.84 (72.2); tail 2.05 (52.2);
bill .39 (10); tarsus .75 (19).

Recognition Marks.—Warbler size; slaty gray head contrasting with
olivaceous back; whitish eye-ring distinctive; voice has more of an
edge than that of _V. olivacea_.

Nesting.—_Nest_: a semi-pensile basket of woven bark-strips, grasses,
and vegetable fibers, variously ornamented externally with cherry
petals, spider cases, bits of paper, etc., lashed to bark of
horizontal or descending bough of sapling (oak, vine-maple, fir, etc.)
at a height of from five to thirty feet; bulkier and of looser
construction than that of other Vireos; measures 2¼ inches across by
1½ inches deep inside; walls often ¾ of an inch in thickness. _Eggs_:
3-5, usually 4, white or creamy white, sparingly marked with spots,
which vary from rich red brown to almost black—but unmarked specimens
are of record. Av. size .75 × .55 (19 × 13.9). _Season_: May 15-June
5; one brood.

General Range.—Pacific Coast district north to British Columbia, east
to Idaho (Ft. Sherman; Ft. Lapwai), breeding from Los Angeles County,
California, northward thruout its range; south in winter to western
Mexico.

Range in Washington.—Common summer resident on both sides of the
Cascades, found chiefly in timbered areas.

Migrations.—_Spring_: Seattle-Tacoma, c. April 15.

Authorities.—? _Vireo solitarius_, Ornithological Committee, Journ.
Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., VII. 1837, 193 (Columbia River). _V. solitarius_
Vieillot, Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv., IX. pt. II 1858, p. 340, part.
(T). C&S. Rh. D¹. Ra. D². Ss². J. B. E.

Specimens.—(U. of W.) B. Prov. P¹.

Nothing so endears a bird to a human admirer as a frank exhibition of confidence. Overtures of friendship on the bird’s part may traverse all rules of caution and previous procedure, but henceforth there is a new relation established between them, bird and man, and the man, at least, is bound to live up to it. At the oncoming of a smart shower on Capitol Hill (before the “For Sale” days) the bird-man put into a fir-covered nook for shelter, and had not been there two minutes before a pair of Cassin Vireos entered for the same reason. They were not in the least disturbed by the man’s presence, but cheerfully accepted him as part of Things as They Are. Therefore, they proceeded to preen their dampened feathers at distances of four or five feet, while the bird-man sat with bated breath and glowing eyes. The birds roamed freely about the nook and once, I think, _he_ made a grimace behind the bird-man’s back; for when they came around in front again, I judged she was saying, “Ar’n’t you the wag!” while he tittered in droll recollection.

These Vireos roam the half-open woods at all levels, like happy school children; and their childish curiosity is as little to be resented. If one hears a bird singing in the distance, he need only sit down and wait. Curiosity will get the better of the bird, and under pretense of chasing bugs it will edge over, singing carelessly now and then, by way of covering the inquisitive intent. At close range the song is stifled, and you feel for the ensuing moments as you do when you have overtaken and passed a bevy of ladies on a lonesome street, _all_ hands and feet with a most atrocious swagger. Inspection done, the bird suddenly resumes the discarded melody, and you no longer have to “look pleasant.”

Like most Vireos, Cassin sings as he works; and, as he works a good deal of the time, albeit in leisurely fashion, he sings in tiny phrases, separated by unembarrassed intervals of silence, a sort of soliloquizing commentary on life, very pleasant to the ear,—_Weé ee-tsiweéoo-tsoo psooi-petewer-ptir-sewtrs-piti-wee-sueeé-pisooor_. But our schoolboy does not fully express himself in music so staid and delicate. He has at command a rasping, nerve-grating war-cry, possibly intended by Nature as a defense against cats, but used, as matter of fact, when the bird is in particularly fine spirits. The note in question may perhaps be fitly likened to the violent shaking of a pepper-box, a rattling, rubbing, shaking note, of three or more vibrations, ending in a little vocal flourish.

These Vireos swing a bulky basket from the lower or middle heights of oak trees, fir trees, alders, or saplings of various sorts. Usually no dependence is placed in cover, save that the ornamented nest corresponds roughly with its general surroundings of leaf, moss and lichen. In sheltered places, the texture of the nest is so well preserved that it may require close inspection the second season to distinguish it from a new nest. One such I examined, green with growing moss, and stark at the lowermost branch-tip of an unleafed cornel sapling, and I could not have determined its age save for a tiny weed-shoot germinating from the bottom of the cup.

Further Mr. Bowles says of their nesting habits: “Both birds assist in the duties of incubation, the male singing most assiduously while on the nest, and usually singing close to his mate while she is sitting. His turn at sitting seems to come between nine o’clock in the morning and noon, and the nest is not hard to find if his song can be traced. The bird student must work quietly, however, as the song at once ceases should any unusual noise occur. They are most courageous while on the nest, seldom leaving until removed by hand, when both birds remain within a few feet of the intruder, scolding vigorously. So much noise do they make that all the birds in the vicinity are attracted—indeed this is about the only sure method of ascertaining the presence of some of our rarer Warblers. On one such occasion a female Cooper Hawk left her nest, which was seventy-five yards distant, and sat on a branch overhead, screaming at me.

“They are the quickest as well as the slowest birds in completing their nests that have come under my notice. One pair built a handsome nest and laid four eggs in precisely ten days; while another pair were more than three weeks from the time the nest was started until the eggs were laid.

“They are the only Vireos that I have ever known to nest in communities. Single pairs are the rule, but I have found as many as six occupied nests inside of a very small area, the nests being only a few yards apart.”

No. 141.
ANTHONY’S VIREO.

A. O. U. No. 632 c. Vireo huttoni obscurus Anthony.

Synonym.—Dusky Vireo.

Description.—_Adults_: Above dull olive, brightening (more greenish)
posteriorly; wings and tail dusky, edged chiefly with pale
olive-green; two prominent wing-bars of pale olive-yellow or whitish,
formed by tips of middle and greater coverts; tertials broadly edged
with palest olive on outer, and with whitish on inner webs; outer web
of outermost rectrix whitish; underparts sordid whitish and more or
less washed, chiefly on breast and sides, with dingy olive-yellow;
lores pale; an orbital ring of whitish, or palest olive-yellow,
interrupted midway of upper lid by spot of dusky; bill horn-color
above, pale below. Length about 4.75 (120.6); average of three
specimens in Provincial Museum at Victoria: wing 2.46 (59.9); tail
2.20 (55.8); bill .35 (8.9); tarsus .75 (19).

Recognition Marks.—Pygmy to warbler size; dingy coloration; whitish
wing-bars serve to distinguish bird from _Vireosylva g. swainsonii_,
but throw it into confusion in summer with the Western Flycatcher
(_Empidonax difficilis_), which it otherwise closely resembles, and in
winter with the Sitkan Kinglet (_Regulus c. grinnelli_). From the
Flycatcher it may be distinguished by its shorter, narrower and yet
thicker bill, and by its more restrained yellowness; from the Kinglet
by its greater size and much stouter bill, more prominent wing-bars,
and rather less prominent eye-ring; and from both by its demure ways.

Nesting.—_Nest_: a semipensile basket of interwoven mosses lined with
grasses (nine feet high in fir tree—one example known). _Eggs_:
2-5(?); .72 × .52 (18 × 12.9). _Season_: June (probably also earlier).

General Range.—Pacific Coast district from western Oregon to
southwestern British Columbia at lower levels (not at all confined to
oak woods as variously reported).

Range in Washington.—West-side, as above; strictly resident.

Authorities.—? Townsend, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. VIII. 1839, 153
(Columbia River). Bowles (C. W. and J. H.), Auk, XV. 1898, 138. Ra. B.
E.

Specimens.—U. of W. Prov. B. E.

In approaching the study of Anthony’s Vireo one must forget all he knows or thinks he knows about Vireos in general. This bird is _sui generis_, and deviations from all known rules are its delight. It has been, in fact, until quite recently, a sort of woodland sphinx, an ornithological mystery, the subject of much inquiry and hazard. Its presence in Washington was quite overlooked by Cooper and Suckley, and Mr. Rathbun’s appears to be the record[58] of first occurrence, that of a bird taken May 14, 1895. I took a specimen on Capitol Hill on the third day of June of the same year; and since that time appearances have become a matter of course to the initiated. Samuel N. Rhoads[59], writing in 1893, considered Anthony’s Vireo a rare visitor to Vancouver Island, where he secured a specimen in 1892 near Victoria. Fannin[60] records it as “a summer resident on Vancouver Island.” As matter of fact, the bird is _resident_ the year round wherever it occurs. I saw it near Victoria during the coldest weather of 1905-6, and find it regularly at Seattle and Tacoma during the winter season. J. H. Bowles secured a specimen, a male in full song, at American Lake on January the 26th, 1907. Moreover, this bird had a bare belly as tho it might have been assisting with incubation.

The very fact that these birds winter with us argues that they have been here for always and always, and the darkening of plumage (as compared with the type form, _V. huttoni_) testifies further to their long residence.

Anthony’s Vireo is leisurely, almost sluggish at times, in its movements. During the winter it mingles freely with the local troops of Kinglets and Chickadees, and keeps largely to the depths of fir trees. When moving about silently, it bears a striking resemblance to the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. It is, of course, slightly larger and much more deliberate, lacking especially the wing-flirt of the Kaiserkin. The region about the eye is more broadly whitish, and the wing-bars concede a difference upon inspection, but the resemblance is so close as altogether to deceive the unwary.

In spring the bird separates itself from its late companions, and begins to explore the budding alders and maples. As the season advances the bird plants itself in some thicket and complains by the hour in strange, monotonous, unvireonine notes. The songs vary endlessly in different individuals, but have this in common, that they are a deliberate, unvarying succession of double notes, usually, but not always, of a slightly nasal character. _Chu-wêem_ - - - - _chu-wêem_ - - - - - - _chu-wêem_ - - _ad lib._, is the common type; _Pu-cheéañ_ - - - - - _pu-cheéañ_ - - - - - - _pucheéañ_, is a French variation; _Poo-eêp^t_ - - - _poo-eêp^t_ and _jüreê^t - jüreê^t - jüreê^t_ are types lacking the nasal quality. Only once I heard the notes pronounced quite rapidly, _pe-eg′, pe-eg′, pe-eg′, pe-eg′ pe-eg′, ad infinitum_, or rather _ad adventum shotguni_. Occasionally the first syllable is accented; as, _(pe)cheê-oo or cheê-oo, cheê-oo_.

Before he has found a mate Anthony roams about with some degree of restlessness, shifting his burden of song from place to place with a view to effect, and uttering now and then coaxing little requests which are certainly meant to win the heart of the lady in hiding. This squeaking note is sometimes raised to the dignity of song, at which times it is not unlike the whining of a dog, a most extraordinary sound to come from so tiny a throat. And if one mentions a chirp, or chuck, like that of a Red-wing Blackbird on a small scale, we have most of the representative efforts of this eccentric genius.

Only one nest of this subspecies has been reported to date, that discovered by Mr. C. W. Bowles, on June 21, 1897, near South Tacoma. It was placed nine feet up in a young fir, where it hung suspended by two small twigs. Externally it was composed entirely of a long hanging moss, some variety of _Usnea_, very thickly and closely interwoven, being thus conspicuously devoid of such exterior decorations as other Vireos provide. Inside was a carefully prepared bed of fine dry grasses, upon which lay two eggs half incubated.

“The female bird was on the nest when first seen and, unlike the majority of our Vireos, flushed the instant the ascent of the tree was attempted. From the nest she flew about twenty feet into a neighboring fir, where she looked down upon our operations with apparently no concern whatever. Beyond rearranging her feathers from time to time, there was nothing to indicate that she had a nest anywhere in the vicinity, as she made no sound or complaint of any kind. Neither was there any of the nervous hopping from twig to twig in the manner by which so many of the smaller birds as clearly display their anxiety as they do by their notes of distress.”[61]

_Tyrannidæ_—The Tyrant Flycatchers

No. 142.
KINGBIRD.

A. O. U. No. 444. Tyrannus tyrannus (Linn.).

Synonyms.—Eastern Kingbird. Bee Martin. Tyrant Flycatcher.

Description.—_Adult_: Above ashy black changing to pure black on head,
and fuscous on wings; crown with a concealed orange-red (cadmium
orange) patch or “crest,” the orange feathers black-tipped and
overlying others broadly white at base; wings with whitish and
brownish ash edgings; tail black, all the feathers broadly
white-tipped, and the outermost pair often white-edged; below white,
washed with grayish on breast; bill and feet black. _Immature_ birds
lack the crown-patch, and are more or less tinged with fulvous or
buffy on the parts which are light-colored in the adult. Length
8.00-9.00 (203-228.6); wing 4.60 (116.8); tail 3.31 (84.1); bill from
nostril .52 (13.2).

Recognition Marks.—Chewink size; blackish ash above; _white_ below;
black tail conspicuously tipped with white; noisy and quarrelsome.

Nesting.—_Nest_: at moderate heights in trees, usually over water, of
weed-stalks, plant-fibres and trash, with a felted mat of plant-down
or wool, and an inner lining of fine grasses, feathers, rootlets, etc.
_Eggs_: 3 or 4, sometimes 5, white or cream-white, distinctly but
sparingly spotted with dark umber and occasional chestnut. Av. size
.98 × .73 (24.9 × 18.5). _Season_: first week in June; one brood.

General Range.—North America from the British Provinces south; in
winter thru eastern Mexico, Central and South America. Less common
west of the Rocky Mountains. Not recorded from northern Mexico and
Arizona.

Range in Washington.—Not uncommon summer resident on East-side; not
common, but of regular occurrence in certain localities west of the
Cascades; nearly confined to vicinity of water in lake or pond.

Authorities.—_Tyrannus carolinensis_ Baird, Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R.
Surv., IX. pt. II. 1858, p. 171. T. C&S. D¹. Ra. D². Ss¹. Ss². J. B.
E.

Specimens.—(U. of W.) Prov. P¹. C. E.

No one has come forward with a theory to account for the testiness of this bird’s temper, not for the domineering qualities which distinguish him above all others; but I hazard that it is because his glowing crown is partially concealed by bourgeois black. Those whose regal marks are more patent are wont to receive homage as matter of course, but the scion of an unacknowledged house, a feathered Don Carlos, must needs spend a fretful life in defense of his claims. Toward those who knuckle down tamely the little tyrant is often very gracious, and it may be conceded that he does perform a real service in holding the common enemies at bay. Who has not seen him as he quits his perch on some commanding tree and hurries forward, choking with vengeful utterance, to meet and chastise some murderous hawk, who before any other foe is brave? Down comes the avenger! The Hawk shies with a guttural cry of rage and terror, while a little puff of feathers scatters on the air to tell of the tyrant’s success. Again and again the quick punishment falls, until the tiny scourge desists, and returns, shaking with shrill laughter, to give his mate an account of his adventure.

It is easily possible, however, to exaggerate the pugnacity of the Kingbird, or to infer from extreme examples that all are quarrelsome. It is not unusual for Kingbirds to be on the best of terms with their immediate neighbors, thieves always excepted. I once found in one small aspen tree at Chelan the nests of three birds each containing eggs, viz., a Robin, an Oriole, and a Kingbird. The two latter were within five feet of each other. Dr. Brewer also records an exactly similar case. Kingbird’s courage, which is unquestionable, is often tempered by prudence; altho at other times it quite overbalances his better judgment. The Burrowing Owl will tolerate none of his nonsense, and I have seen the birds make sad mistakes in molesting these virtuous mousers. The sight of a Shrike will make a Kingbird shrink into the smallest possible compass, while Catbirds, too, are said to be, for valid reasons, quite exempt from molestation.

The food of the Kingbird consists entirely of insects, caught on the wing for the most part, by sallies from some favorite perch. His eyesight must be very good, as he not infrequently spies his prey at distances of from twenty to fifty yards. Honey bees form an occasional but inconsiderable article of diet. Grasshoppers are not overlooked, and they sometimes capture, not without a scuffle, those big brown locusts (_Melanoplus sp._) which make flippant exposure of their persons on a summer day. Both in the taking of food and in the discharge of police duties the Kingbird exhibits great strength and swiftness, as well as grace in flight. Once, when passing in a canoe thru a quiet, weed-bound channel, I was quite deceived for a time by the sight of distant white-breasted birds dashing down to take insects near the surface of the water, and even, occasionally dipping under it. They had all the ease and grace of Tree Swallows, but proved to be Kingbirds practising in a new role.

This fondness for water is often exhibited in the birds’ choice of a nesting site. Where accustomed to civilization, orchard or shade trees are preferred, but on many occasions nests are found on low-swinging horizontal branches overhanging the water; and, as often, in tiny willow clumps or isolated trees entirely surrounded by it. The nest of the Kingbird sometimes presents that studied disarray which is considered the height of art. Now and then a nest has such a disheveled appearance as to quite discourage investigation, unless the owners’ presence betrays the secret of occupancy. On the shore of Cold Spring Lake, in Douglas County, we noted a last year’s Bullock Oriole’s nest, which would not have attracted a second glance, with the newer nest hard by, had it not been for the constant solicitude of a pair of Kingbirds. Investigation showed that the ancient pocket had been crammed full of grass and twigs, and that it contained two fresh eggs of the Flycatcher. Ordinarily the nest is placed in an upright or horizontal fork of a tree at a height of from three to forty feet. Twigs, weed-stalks, and trash of any kind enter into the basal construction. The characteristic feature of the nest, however, is the mould, or matrix, composed of vegetable plaster, ground wood, and the like, or else of compacted wool and cow-hair, which is forced into the interstices of the outer structure and rounded inside, giving shape to the whole. This cup, in turn, is lined with fine grasses, cow-hair, or variously. Occasionally, nests are found composed almost entirely of wool. In others string is the principal ingredient.

Altho the Kingbird never sings, it has a characteristic and not unmusical cry, _tizic, tizic_ (spell it _phthisic_, if you favor the old school) or _tsee tsee tsee tsee_, in numerous combinations of syllables, which are capable of expressing various degrees of excitement and emotion.

In eastern Washington this Kingbird is common and well distributed, tho far less abundant than the larger, grayer “Western.” West of the Cascades it is rare but regular, being found chiefly along the wooded margins of lakes.

No. 143.
WESTERN KINGBIRD.

A. O. U. No. 447. Tyrannus verticalis Say.

Synonyms.—Arkansas Kingbird. Arkansas Flycatcher.

Description.—_Adult Male_: Foreparts, well down on breast, and upper
back ashy gray, lightening, nearly white, on chin and upper throat,
darker on lores and behind eye; a partially concealed crown-patch of
orange-red (Chinese orange); lateral boundaries of this patch
olivaceous; back, scapulars, and rump ashy glossed with olive-green;
this color shading to black on upper tail-coverts; wings fuscous; tail
black, the outer web of outermost rectrix white, or faintly tinged
with yellow; underparts below breast rich canary yellow, paler on
wing-linings and lower tail-coverts; bill and feet black; iris brown.
_Adult Female_: like male but crown-patch usually somewhat restricted,
and primaries much less attenuated. _Young birds_ are duller and
browner without crown-patch, and with little or no olivaceous on back;
the yellow of underparts is paler (sulphury or even whitish), and the
primaries are scarcely or not at all attenuated. Length of adult males
about 9.00 (228.6); wing 5.12 (130); tail 3.68 (93.5); bill .73
(18.7); tarsus .74 (18.8). Females average less.

Recognition Marks.—Chewink to Robin size; noisy, petulant ways; ashy
foreparts and yellow belly distinctive.

Nesting.—_Nest_: of twigs, grasses, string, wool, and other soft
substances, placed at moderate heights in bushes or trees, or more
commonly on beams and ledges of barn or outbuildings. _Eggs_: 3-5,
like those of _T. tyrannus_, but averaging smaller, .93 × .68 (23.6 ×
17.3). _Season_: first week in June; one brood.

General Range.—Western United States, north regularly to southern
British Columbia, occasionally to Alberta, Assiniboia, and Manitoba,
north to western Minnesota, eastern Nebraska, and western Texas,
breeding thruout range, and south to Chihuahua, Mexico; south in
winter thru Mexico to highlands of Guatemala.

Range in Washington.—Common summer resident east of the Cascades, rare
or casual on the West-side.

Migrations.—_Spring_: c. May 1st; Wallula April 26, 1905; Yakima April
30, 1900; Chelan May 11, 1896.