VIREOS 303 



costume, little individual touches in their attire 

 help to distinguish them. The Red-ej^e wears a 

 gray cap with black and white border ; the War- 

 bling keeps strictly to its plain olive gown, having 

 no cap or trimmings of any sort ; and its charac- 

 teristic flowing warble comes to us from the elm- 

 tops. Both the White-eye and Yellow-throat 

 wear white wing bars and brighten their costume 

 with yellow, but in the case of the little White- 

 eye it is only a touch, while in the Yellow-throat 

 it is a clear yellow vest. 



As the Grouse, Sparrows, and Wrens wear 

 ground-colors, and the Flycatchers the grays of 

 the dead trees and bare twigs, so the Yireos carry 

 the colors of their environment and are clothed 

 in green to match the foliage in which they live. 

 They are not green all over, however, but in com- 

 pliance with the law of the gradation of tints, 

 expounded by Mr. Abbott Thayer, are white, or 

 white grading to yellow underneath where the 

 least light reaches, and green above where the 

 strong light falls. 



In disposition the Greenlets are as gentle and 

 friendly as the Shrikes and Hawks are fierce. 

 Although they are not equally gifted, and do not 

 rank with the greatest musicians, they stand with 

 the singing birds as compared with the Grouse, 

 Doves, Hawks, Woodpeckers, Flycatchers, and 

 Waxwings, for they make up in perseverance 

 what they lack in quality. 



