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GENERAL ZOOLOGY 



at the base of the bill serve to entangle insects and make 

 their capture more certain. The brightly colored warblers 

 (Mniotil'tidae), as Mr. Chapman says, are "at once the 

 delight and the despair of field students." The many 

 species are insect-eaters, getting their food almost exclu- 

 sively from the leaves or bark of trees, though some cap- 

 ture it on the wing, after the manner of the flycatchers. 



Fig. 208. Flycatchers 

 American Museum of Natural History 



The vireos (Vireon'idae) are to be found in much the same 

 places as many of the warblers, industriously picking insects 

 from the leaves of trees, or from crevices in the bark. Vireos 

 are small, greenish-colored birds, which build cup-shaped, 

 hanging nests of plant fibers, lined with pine needles and 

 similar material. The white-eyed vireo has the habit of 

 often weaving a piece of newspaper into the structure of its 

 nest ; hence it is called "the politician " in some parts of the 

 country. A cast snake's skin is also a favorite object for this 

 purpose. 



Our familiar crow and our almost equally familiar blue 

 jay are members of the family Cor'vidae. The family is 



