An Account of the Yellow-Green Vireo
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Vol. XLVIII] 1•1 J PE•RS, T/• Yd/ow-•e• 575 AN ACCOUNT OF THE YELIDW-GREEN VIREO (VIREOSYLVA FLAVOVIRIDIS CASSIN) BY JAMES L. PETE• Tav• Yellow-greenVireo enjoysa placein the Check-listof the AmericanOrnithologists' Union on the basisof three instancesof accidentaloccurrence within the limits coveredby the Cheek-list. To the bulk of ornithologistsand bird-studentsin this country this bird is a name only, and for that reasonan accountof its history,range, geographic variation, migrations, etc. may proveof some interest. This studyis basedon the seriesof sixty-fiveskins of the species in the Museumof ComparativeZoology, supplemented by over fifty from the main collectionand •ffty-three from the Dwight Collectionof the AmericanMuseum of Natural History. In addition I have examinedsingle birds or small seriesfrom the collectionsof the BiologicalSurvey, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphiaand Mr. DonaldR. Dickey.' It is now generallyconceded that the Yellow-greenVireo is divisibleinto threesubspecies as follows: Vireo fla,•oiridis z/r/d/s(Cassin), Vireo fia,•oiri dis forred Madar/sz, and Vireo fiavoviridisinsulanus Bangs. The speciesbelongs to that groupof moreor lessclosely related Vireosincluding Vireo mag'•terand subspecies,from the islands off the coastof Yucatanand in the Gulf of Honduras;V. caymanen- s/a fromthe islandof GrandCayman; V. olivaeeusand subspecies (Black-whiskeredVireo) of the'West Indies,Vireo olivaeeus • (Red- eyedVireo) from North America,and Vireochizi 2 and subspecies from South America. Of this groupit is most nearly related to Vireooli•meeus, apparently representing it in Mexicoand Central Americaas doesVireo ealidrist in the West Indies, but the dif- ferencesseparating the three groupsare certainlyof more than subspecificvalue. • While these are the names adopted in the A. O. U. Check-list the author con- siders that oltvaceus?.inn. is based on the West Indies bird and replaces caltdrts which would require the use of v•rescensVieillot for the Red-eyed Vireo. ' • l•r. Todd's paper (Auk, July 1931) appearedlong after the present paper was submitted.--Ed. 576 TheYellow-green Vireo. [Oct.Auk Vireo fiavoviridis (CAss•N) Description.--Pileum and hind neck mouse gray or neutral gray the anterior part with a dusky border, more or less distinct; superciliary stripe grayish-white; rest of upper parts and tail olive green; wings dusky, the feathers margined with yellowish olive; lores grayish-white like the superciliary, becoming dusky in front of the eye. Below white, flanks and sidesof neck and chest olive yellow, becominglemon yellow on the under tail coverts;under wing covertspale lemonyellow or sulphur yellow. Bill, legsand feet bluish gray or grayish blue in life; iris "red." Wing (males) 74.5-86.5; females 71-78.5. Breeding Range.--Mexico from Sonora and Tamaulipas south to the Canal Zone and the Pearl Islands but absent from the Caribbean coast of Central America south of Guatemala; Tres Mafias Islands. Vireo fiavoviridis fiavoviridis (CAss•N) Vireosylvafiavovi•idis Cassin, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 5, 1851,p. 152, pl. 11 (Panama and Nicaragua). SubspecificCharacters.--Superciliary stripe distinct, dusky border of pileumusually well defined; sizemedium. Wing (males)77-83; average of 39 breedingbirds 78.2 mm•; females73-80, averageof 14 breedingbirds 76.5. Range.--Mexico from Sonora, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas south on the Pacific coast to northwesternCosta Pica and on the Caribbean slope to eastern Guatemala. Apparently absent from the Caribbean rain forest from Honduras southward except that summer birds from eastern Costa Pica (Carillo, 1500 feet and Mojon, 3500 feet) are referableto fixis form. Winters in upper Amazonia. Accidental at Godbout, Quebec (Merriam, 1883), Brownsville,Texas (Merrill, 1878, p. 125) and Riverside, California (Price, 1888). Cassinbased his original descriptionon four specimensin the Academyof Natural Sciences,of Philadelphiabut thesecotypes no longer exist (Stone, 1899, p. 31). His descriptionapplies equallyto f. flavoriridisor f. insulanus,but the wing measurement of 3.2 inchesis equivalentto 81.5 mm. and can apply only to the form breedingin Mexico and northern Central America. Mostpersons who have studied the birds of CentralAmerica in recent years axe now convincedthat the Yellow-greenVireo is migratory,but praetieallynothing has been publishedconcerning the datesof migrationor the winter homeof the species. Cherrie (1890,p. 329) appearsto have beenthe first to recognizethe fact that the bird is not a permanentresident in Costa Rica, stating that it disappearedfrom the neighborhoodof San Jos• with the ¾ol. 1931XL¾III1 J P•a'•as,'TheYe2•ov•r• Vireo. 577 beginningof thedry season at theend of Septemberand reappeared againin April. Alsoas far backas 1881 Salvin and Godman (1881, p. 190)suggested that thebirds taken in winterin SouthAmerica werethere only at that season,this observationbeing prompted by a specimentaken at Yquitos,Peru by Whitelyon 16 October, 1878,together with the lackof recordsof its occurrencein Mexico and Central Americaoutside of the periodfrom April to August inclusive. That the winterhome of the speciesis in AmazonianColombia, Ecuador,Peru and Bolivia, is, I think well established.Early referencesin literature of its occurrencein South America for the mostpart fail to givethe dateswhen the specimenswere secured. The firstpublished instance of its occurrencein Amazoniawas by Taczanowski(1874, p. 509) who recordsa specimencollected at Monterico,Peru by Jelski;the sameauthor (1882,p. 7).lists an exampletaken by Stolzmann23 February1881 at Yurimaguas, Peru. Gadow(1883, p. 295) listssldn.• in the BritishMuseum col- lectiontaken at Guayango,Peru; Rio Nape, Ecuador; and" Bolivia." Todd (1922,p. 434) in detailingthe recordsof V. fia•oviridis fromthe SantaMarta region,shows that all the datesof occurrence thereare between12 Augustand 20 October,when the birdsare cormnonthroughout the lowlandsbelow 1000feet, especiallyin that part of the regionlying westwardof the mountains.The fact that there are no winter or springrecords may indicatethat the bird passesfurther south and possiblyreturns northward by another route. Chapman(1917, p. 539)gives only two recordsfrom Colombia, both from Chicoralin the MagdalenaValley, 23 Augustand 13 October. For EcuadorChapman (1026, p. 586) recordsVireo fia•o•iridisfrom SanJose 11 March-ll April andfrom Rio $uno, 7 and 8 March; bothlocalities situated on affluents'ofthe Rio Napo. Besidesthis publishedevidence I haveexamined specimens in the AmericanMuseum of Natural Historyand the Museumof Com- parativeZoology as follows:--EasteruEcuador, Rio Curarayand LagartoCocha 8, 10 Novemberand 18 January. Southeastern Peru: 15, 22 October;10, 13 December;2 February. Bolivia: 23 February,5 March. M•n6gaux(1911, p. A 70) recordsa speci- menof Vireofia,•nriridis from Santo Domingo, Ecuador, a locality 578 [PETERS,TheYellow-green Vireo. [oct.[Auk in the humid tropicalzone of the Pacificslope. I have doubts however as to the eorreetuessof the identification, the bird is givenas a c• with a wingof only 68 mm. and a bill of 12 mm., the wing is muchtoo smalleven for V. f. insulanus,but corresponds with the smallerbirds of the Vireoehivi group. At this point it is importantto rememberthat there is not a singlerecord for any form of Vireofiavoviridis in Mexico or Cen- tral Americabetween 7 Octoberand 14 February. Northward Migration.--As will be shown later, V. f. insulanus arrivesin the Canal Zone aheadof V. f. fiavoviridisso the datesof arrival of one race or the other must rest upon actual specimens. V. f. fiavoviridisputs in its appearancein Panamaat the end of Februaryor the first week in March. Februaryarrivals are most unusual,the only certaindate beingfor a male taken in Chiriqui, 4800 feet, 26 February, 1901 by W. W. Brown; the samecollector alsosecured two femalesat the sameplace 3 and 4 March 1901;a specimenin the BiologicalSurvey collectionwas shot at Taber- nilla, Canal Zone, by E. A. Goldman,12 March 1911. In 1904 when Brown was collectingon SabogaIsland, one of the Pearl Islands,he shotsix malesand two femalesbetween 2 and 12 April, all referableto f. fiavoviridisand did not get the residentinsulanus at all. Evidently the springmigration was then at its height. In the vicinity of San Jos•, Costa Riea, Cherriesays that the bird has returnedto its usual hauntsby the tenth of April. On the Pacificslope of Nicaraguathe earliestdate is 9 April, a speci- men taken by Miller and Griseomin 1917. The earliest date for anywherein Central Americanorth of Panama is that of a specimencollected at Mazatenango,western Guatemalaby Ned Dearborn between 15 and 21 March, 1906 (Dearborn,1907, p. 124); A. W. Anthony shot two malesat La Perla, easternGuatemala 1 and 2 April 1927. On 28 March 1912, I k/lied a singingc• at Camp Mengel, QuintanaRoo. Cole (1906, p. 136)took a maleat ChichenItza, Yucatan3 April 1904. From Vera Cruz there is a male in the M. C. Z. taken at Presidio 6 April 1925,by W. W. Brownand from Oaxaea,a male taken by the samecollector 15 April 1927. As is to be expectedthe first arrival in every easewas a male. On the other hand,a belated migrant from Darien, a female,was taken on Mt. Sapoat Cana, 26 April 1928by R. R. Benson. Vol. 101)1XI•VIIIl J P•,•as,ivh• Yellow• Vir•o. 579 $tmg.--Thesong of the Yellow-greenVireo is practicallyin- distinguishablefrom that of the Red-eye. In CentralAmerica the birdsusually frequent tall treesin the river valleys,but are never foundin the rain forestregions, except when it seemsto be oneof thespecies