THE WESTERN WARBLING VIREO. 



361 



Authorities. — ? I'irco gilriis, Townsend, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci. Pliila., VIII. 

 1839, p- 153 (Ciiluniljia River). J'irco gilvus (szcaiiisoiiii proposed), Baird, 

 Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv., IX. pt. II. 1858, 336. T. C&S. L. Rh. D-. Ra. D-'. J. B. E. 



Specimens.— U. of \\\ Prov. B. BN. E. 



THE ol<l-fasliioiiecl name "Greeiilet," as applied to the Vireos, was a mis- 

 nomer, if a description of plumage was intended; but if it was intended to 

 memijrialize the bird's fondness for greenery, nothing cnuld lia\'e been more 

 a]it. The \\'arl)ling \'ireo's surroundings must be not only green, ])ut freshly 

 green, for it frequents only deciduous trees in gro\-es and riverside copses. It 

 is not an abundant bird, therefore, in Washington, altho equally distributed, 

 whether in the willows and birches which gather about some lonesonre spring 

 in the bunch-grass country, or among the crowded alders and maples of the 

 turbid N(_ioksachk. Moreover, the bird is not so frequently found about parks 

 and shade trees as in the East, altho it looks with strung fa\-iir uijon the ad\'ent 

 of orchards. And the orchardist may welcome him with oiien arms, for there 

 is not among all his tenants a more indefatigalile gleaner of bugs and worms. 

 Because lie is clad in (Juaker gray there is little need for the \'ireo to show 

 himself as he sings, and he remains for the most part concealed in the dense 

 foliage, a \-ocal embodiment of the living green. Unlike the disconnected 

 fragments wliich the Red-eye furnishes, the song of this bird is gushing and 

 continuous, a rapid excursion o\-er pleasant hills and valleys. Continuous, that 

 is, unless the bright-eyed singer happens to spy a worm in nwiliiis res. in which 

 e\'ent the song is instantly suspended, to be resumed a moment later when the 



hec 

 The notes are flute-like, tende 

 melodious, ha\'ing. as Chaj 

 "a singular alto under- 

 tone." All hours of the 

 day are recognized as ap- 

 propriate to melody, and 

 the song period lasts from 

 the time of the bird's 

 arrival, early in ]\Iay, 

 until its departure in Sep- 

 tember, with only a brief 

 hiatus in Jul}'. 



In sharp contrast with 

 the beautiful canzonettes 

 which the bird showers 

 d(_)wn from the treetops, 

 come the harsh, wren-like western warbling vireo at nest. 



