230 THE CONDOR VoL.X Dr. Dearborn and I carefully skinned, but the skin spoiled owing to our labors at Lake Valencia being ended by an unexpected event. When we reached land after the hunt was over, we learned that La Guayra had been rigidly quarantined because of the appearance of bubonic plague in that port. The closing of Puerto Cabello, our only other means of egress from Vene- zuela, might follow at any moment, and we were advised to leave the country while we still had a chance. Accordingly we left by the first train the next day and were in Puerto Cabello that night. The journey was thru picturesque moun- tainous country, much of it being barren and sun-baked. The next day, by the rarest chance, I got an excursion boat sailing to Curacao, an island of the Dutch West Indies, while Dr. Dearborn pursued his labors a short time longer in Vene- zuela and took the first available steamer to New York. Field Museum of ?Valural f-fislory, Chicago, ]rllinois. THREE VIREOS: NESTING NOTES FROM THE HUACHUCA MOUNTAINS By F. C. WILLARD WITH THREE PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR NE of the most interesting families of birds as home builders is that of the Vireos. Three representatives of this family nest in the Huachuca Mountains, the Plumbeous (Lanivireo s. piumbeus), Stephens ( Vireo h. stephensi), an4 Western Warbling ( Vireosyiva ?. swainsoni), named in the order of their abundance. It was my good fortune to make a rather intimate acquaint- ance with all three of these species during the season of 1908. The Plumbeous largely outnumbers the other two. It is rarely found below an altitude of 6000 feet on the east slope and 4000 feet on the west, nesting from its lowest range to the summit where I have found nests at an altitude of over 9000 feet. Every canyon has a numerous line of the Plumbeous Vireo along its bottom with scattering pairs in all the small side canyons and on the ridges. The nests are usually close to the ground, frequently within reaching distance. Oaks, ash, maples and sycamores are selected as nesting sites. Each pair has its claim staked out and ejects all intruders of the same species, altho the other two species are un- molested by Plumbeus even when nesting in close proximity. In nest building they go as far as a quarter of emile for material. They feed closer to the nest, however, probably at not over half this distance. The female does all the nest-building but is assisted somewhat by the male in the duties of in- cubation. He also feeds his mate on the nest, but this is done rather infrequently. My present observations give the time at intervals of from twenty minutes to half an hour. When doing so he sings close by the nest after feeding her and this has helped me locate several. The male also sings when the nest is approached, and once this year I saw one sitting on the nest and singing. Toward evening the male frequently flies down close to the nest and sits within a few inches of it for long periods, being perfectly quiet and motionless all the time. The nest is a very pretty cup-shaped affair as is usual with this family. It is composed of grass-tops woven into a frame work and filled in with oak down and greenish colored oak blossoms and bits of spiders web. The lining is of fine grass tops from which all the seeds have been removed. The general appearance of a
