232 THE CONDOR VoL. X mouth. There were still two eggs in the nest when I reached for the fourth. After placing it with its three counterparts I reached for the fifth supposing it would be a cowbird's. What a surprise and delight it was to bring forth another Vireo's egg. Five fresh eggs and such beauties. This was my first set of Plumbeous and the only one of five I have seen. Four is the usual number tho three eggs are not un- usual. The proportion varies with the different years. I have not been in the field late enough to make any observations in connection with the young. With the Stephens Vireo it is different as my observations always began with families of fullfledged young, and until this season, ended there, too. In speaking of Stephens Vireo the first thought is always of their song, if it can be dignified by such a name. It is like the roewing of a very small and lonely kitten repeated with even more energy, frequency and persistence. At times the "me-ow" is made more heart-rending, like a kitten in distress, the interval being slightly longer but the "me-ow" more drawn out and fuller in volume. The male will keep this up for minutes at a time, never pausing for breath. One was so persistent I timed him: NEST O1? THE STEPHENS VIREO This series lasted thirteen and one-half minutes at the rate of one every Second. This seems incredible but was actually timed by a watch. He sat still on the top of a madrone tree most of the time. The cadence scarcely varied at all. Twice he hopped to another perch but did not let the movement interrupt his song. The female does not have the same note but is restricted to the usual scolding note of the Vireos and a peculiar chirp which I am unable to describe and which she shares in common with the male. This last note was heard only around the nest or when feeding the young. The first brood of young is frequently flying by the 10th of May and they are fed by the parents until so well grown that it is impossible to tell them apart. The usual number of young seen at this time is three, tho once or twice I have counted four juveniles in one group. On May 21, 1908, I was seated on a steep mountain side watching a Grace Warbler. There were a few large pine trees, some red oaks, and a scattering growth of oak brush, one clump of this being about thirty feet below me. A pair of Stephens Vireos flew into this and the female began arranging some nesting
