Color Key to North American Birds Part 67

Range.--Northeastern Mexico, north to southeastern Texas.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 629.]

=629. Blue-headed Vireo= (_Vireo solitarius_). L. 5.5; W. 2.9; B. .4.

_Ads._ Lores and eye-ring white; crown and cheeks bluish slate-color; back olive-green; below white, sides washed with greenish yellow; two whitish wing-bars. _Notes._ Resembling in form those of Red-eyed or Yellow-throated Vireos but more varied, sometimes a continuous warble; a musical chatter, like that of the Yellow-throated and a trilled whistle. (Torrey.)

Range.--Eastern North America; breeds from Connecticut (and south along Alleghanies) north to New Brunswick and Manitoba; winters from Florida to Central America.

=629a. Ca.s.sin Vireo= (_V. s. ca.s.sini_). Like No. 629, but back washed with the color of the head; white on breast and throat less pure.

Range.--"Breeds from British Columbia and Idaho south along Pacific coast region and Nevada to Lower California; migrates to Arizona, New Mexico; and northern Mexico." (Bailey.)

=629b. Plumbeous Vireo= (_V. s. plumbeus_). Above wholly plumbeous-gray with scarcely, if any, olive tinge, below white, the sides gray _faintly_ tinged with greenish yellow; size of No. 629c.

Range.--Rocky Mountain region; breeds from northern Mexico north to southwestern Dakota and Wyoming; winters south to southern Mexico.

=629c. Mountain Solitary Vireo= (_V. s. alticola_). Larger than No. 629, W. 3.15, B. .46; head darker, its color extending over most of the back.

Range.--Breeds in Alleghanies from North Carolina to Georgia; winters in Florida.

=629d. St. Lucas Solitary Vireo= (_V. s. lucasa.n.u.s_). Smaller than No. 629a, but bill longer and stouter, sides and flanks much yellower; young without brownish below, and resembling young of No. 629.

Range.--Cape Region of Lower California.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 633.]

=633. Bell Vireo= (_Vireo bellii_). L. 5. Above olive-green, crown grayer; lores and eye-ring white; two inconspicuous whitish wing-bars; below white, sides tinged with yellowish. Most like No. 627, but back greener, no white line _back_ of eye. _Notes._ Resemble those of the White-eyed Vireo, but less harsh, song less emphatic. (Goss.)

Range.--Interior states from Illinois west to Plains; breeds from Texas to Minnesota; winters in Mexico.

=633.1. Least Vireo= (_Vireo pusillus_). L. 4.8. _Ads._ Above gray, slightly tinged with greenish toward rump; below white, sides with little if any greenish tinge; one inconspicuous whitish wing-bar; lores and eye-ring inconspicuously grayish.

Range.--Northwestern Mexico and northern Lower California; breeds north to Arizona and middle California.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 634.]

=634. Gray Vireo= (_Vireo vicinior_). L. 5.5. Above slaty gray; below white tinged with grayish; one inconspicuous wing-bar; lores and eye-ring gray; bill short. _Notes._ Song may be compared with the finest efforts of the Blue-headed Vireo with the added charm and mellowness of the song of the Yellow-throated Vireo. (Henshaw.)

Range.--Northern Mexico, north to western Texas, southeastern California, and southern Nevada; winters in Mexico.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 749.]

=749. Ruby-crowned Kinglet= (_Regulus calendula_). L. 4.4. A conspicuous whitish eye-ring. _Ad._ [Male]. A more or less concealed crown-patch; back olive-green; underparts soiled whitish more or less tinged with buffy; two white wing-bars. _Ad._ [Female] and _Yng._ (Here figured.) Similar, but no crown-patch.

Range.--North America; breeds from the northern border of the United States northward, and south in the Rocky Mountains to Arizona, and in the Sierra Nevada of California; winters from south Carolina and Oregon southward to Central America.

=749a. Sitkan Kinglet= (_R. c. grinnelli_). Similar to No. 749, but more olive-green above; more buffy below.

Range.--Pacific coast; breeds in southern Alaska; winters southward to California.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 470a.]

=470a. Buff-breasted Flycatcher= (_Empidonax fulvifrons pygmaeus_).

L. 4.7. _Ads._ Below rusty buff; above grayish brown.

Range.--Western Mexico; north in spring to southwestern New Mexico and Arizona.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 586.]

=586. Texas Sparrow= (_Arremonops rufivirgata_). L. 6.5. _Ads._ Above olive-green, sides of crown brownish, its center grayish; below whitish; bend of wing _yellow_. _Notes._ Song resembles that of the Chipping Sparrow but with somewhat of the sweetness and modulation of that of the Yellow Warbler.

Range.--Eastern Mexico, north to southeastern Texas; casually to Louisiana.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 638.]

=638. Swainson Warbler= (_Helinaia swainsonii_). L. 5. Bill large; no white in wings or tail. _Ads._ Crown brown, back, wings and tail olive-brown; a whitish line over eye; below whitish tinged with yellow. _Notes._ Song, "a series of clear, ringing whistles, the first four uttered rather slowly and in the same key, the remaining five or six given more rapidly and in an evenly descending scale." (Brewster.)

Range.--Southeastern United States; breeds from Gulf States north to southeastern Virginia, southern Indiana and southern Missouri.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 639.]

=639. Worm-eating Warbler= (_Helmitheros vermivorus_). L. 5.5. Bill large; no white in wings or tail _Ads._ Crown black with three buff stripes; back, wings and tail olive-green; below buffy white deeper on breast. _Yng._ Buff everywhere richer. _Notes._ Call, a sharp _chip_; song, resembles that of Chipping Sparrow but is somewhat weaker.

Range.--Eastern United States; breeds north to southern Connecticut, southern Illinois and southern Wisconsin; winters south of United States.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 742.]

=742. Pallid Wren-t.i.t= (_Chamaea fasciata_). L. 6.7; T. 5.4. Outer tail-feathers shortest. _Ads._ Above brownish gray; below buffy obscurely streaked with gray. _Notes._ Song wooden and unmusical, beginning deliberately and ending in a roll, _chick_: _chick_; _chick_, _chick-chick-chick-chick-chick-chick_.

Range.--"Interior of California, including the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, from the head of the Sacramento Valley south to northern Lower California." (A.O.U.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: 742a.]

=742a. Coast Wren-t.i.t= (_C. f. phaea_). Similar to No. 742, but much browner above and deeper more pink below; sides as dark as back.

Range.--Pacific Coast from Monterey County, California, north to southern Oregon.

=707. Curve-billed Thrasher= (_Toxostoma curvirostre_). L. 11.2.

_Ads._ Above brownish gray; below mottled with brownish gray; lower belly buffy; four outer pairs of tail-feathers _tipped with white_; two narrow white wing-bars. _Notes._ Call, a sharp, _whit-whit_; one of the most silent of song Thrushes. (Merrill.) Song, remarkably melodious and attractive. (Couch.)

Range.--Mexican boundary region of Texas and New Mexico south over the Mexico tableland to Oaxaca.