182 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



tinged with stilphur- yellow; lining of "wings and its edge, the latter especially, nearly 

 white. Quills blackish brown, edged externally, except at ends of primaries, with olive; 

 internally with white. Tail-feathers lighter brown, edged externally like the back, in- 

 ternally with pale olivaceous white. Bill dusky above, pale below; tarsi plumbeous; 

 iris red. Length, 6.33; extent of wings, 10.25; wing, 3.33; tail, 2..".o. 

 'Female similar, but duller in plumage." (Hist. 3'. Am. .} 



Taking the country at large, the Red-eyed Vireo is perhaps the 

 most abundant woodland species. It is the bete noir of the collec- 

 tor, who, during the "warbler season" daily, and much to his disgust, 

 sacrifices a greater or less number of individuals; indeed it is a 

 common saying that a "a Red-eyed Vireo can make himself look 

 and act like any sort of warbler." It is probable that we have not 

 a more beneficial bird than this species, noxious and destructive in- 

 sects of numerous kinds constituting his principal food. Seeking 

 for 1hese is his constant occupation, as he hops along a branch, 

 now peering into some crevice of the bark or nook among the foli- 

 age, even uttering his pretty song during the interval between swal- 

 lowing the last worm and finding the next. "The tender and 

 pathetic utterances of this Vireo, uttered with so much apparent 

 animation, to judge from their sound, are in striking contrast to 

 the apparent indifference or unconsciousness of the little vocalist 

 who, while thus delighting the ear of the listener, seems to be all 

 the while bent on procuring its daily supply of food, which it pur- 

 sues with unabated ardor. (BREWER.) 



"This Vireo," says Dr. Brewer,* "builds the pensile nest of its 

 race, suspending it from, the fork of two or more twigs of a forest 

 tree, at various heights of from five to fifty feet from, the ground. 

 It is cup-like in shape, and always dependent from small twigs, 

 around which its upper edges are firmly bound. Externally it is 

 woven of various materials, fine strips of bark, the hempen fibres 

 of vegetables, and webs of spiders and various caterpillars. These 

 are compactly pressed and woven, and, as some suppose, aggluti- 

 nated by the saliva of the builder. Sometimes the unmanageable 

 materials give to the outside of the nest a rude and unfinished ap- 

 pearance, at others they are evenly and smoothly wrought. They 

 are very strong, uninjured by the storms of winter, and are often 

 made use of by other birds, by mice, and even by the same bird a 

 second season." 



* Hist. 2f. Am. B. i, p. 365. 



