308 INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS. 



the last syllable but one considerably lengthened and clear- 

 ly whistled. Such were the captious variations of this lit- 

 tle quaint and peculiarly earnest musician, whose notes 

 are probably almost continually varied. On the 6th of Oc- 

 tober, I still hearcj one of these wandering little minstrels, 

 who, at intervals, had for several weeks visited the gar- 

 den, probably in quest of berries. His short, quaint, and 

 more guttural song, was now atshee-vait, (probably the 

 attempt of a young bird.) A.s late as the 20th of October 

 the White-Eyed Vireo still lingered around Cambridge, 

 and, on the margin of a pond, surrounded by weeds and 

 willows, he was actively employed in gleaning up insects 

 and their larvae : and now, with a feebler tone of voice, 

 warbled with uncommon sweetness, wholly different 

 from his usual strain, soundinor somethincr like the sweet 

 whisperings of the Song Sparrow, at the present season, 

 and was perhaps an attempt at mimickry. Occasionally, 

 also, he blended in his harsher, scolding, or querulous 

 mewing call. From this journal, it must be evident, 

 that the present species retires no further for winter quar- 

 ters than the southern parts of the United States, where 

 many also breed, as would appear, from the concomi- 

 tant circumstance of their music ; nor is it at all improb- 

 able that the species may likewise inhabit the maritime 

 parts of Mexico, as well as Louisiana. 



This species, like the rest, builds commonly a pensile 

 nest, suspended by the upper edge of the two sides on the 

 circular bend, often, of the smilax or green-briar vine. 

 It is composed of slender twigs, grassy fibres, pieces of 

 paper, sometimes newspapers, or fragments of hornets' 

 nests ; the interior is lined with slender root fibres. The 

 whole fabric appears to me, as far as my opportunities 

 have extended, like the Cat-Bird's nest in miniature. 

 The eggs are 4 or 5, white, marked at the larger end 



