Part 38

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.

Authorities.—Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX. 1858, p. 174. T. C&S. D¹. D². Ss¹. Ss². J. B. E.

Specimens.—U. of W. P¹. Prov. B. E.

Here is the presiding genius of all properly conducted ranches upon the sunny side of the Cascade Mountains. Guest he is not, host rather; and before you have had time to dismount from your panting cayuse this bird bustles forth from the locust trees and hovers over you with noisy effusiveness. The boisterous greeting is one-third concern for his babies in the locust tree hard-by, one-third good fellowship, and the remainder sheer restlessness. The Western Kingbird is preeminently a social creature. And by social in this case we mean, of course, inclined to human society. For, altho the bird may start up with vociferating cries every time a member of the besieged household sets foot out of doors, one is reminded by these attentions rather of a frolicsome puppy than of a zealous guardian of the peace. Those who have been most honored by their presence year after year claim that the birds become fond of certain members of the family, and allow a familiarity in nest inspection which would be shriekingly resented in the case of strangers.