VIREOS 



103 



gray: across the lores, a dusky gray streak, becoming 

 darker at the front corner of eye, and back of the 

 eye a less distinct streak of dusky; ear. under the eye, 

 and cheek regions, pale olive or pale brownish-olive, 

 passing into olive-greenish on sides of neck ; under 

 parts, white, the sides and flanks tinged with pale 

 yellowish-olive, the under tail-coverts, tinged with 

 sulphur-yellow ; under wing-coverts, pale sulphur-yel- 

 low ; bill, grayish-dusky or blackish ; iris, brownish-red ; 

 legs and feet, grayish-blue. Young (First Plumage). 

 Crown, hindneck, back, shoulders, rump, upper tail- 

 coverts, and lesser wing-coverts plain vinaceous brown, 

 varying from pale brown to pale fawn color or deep 

 ecru-drab ; greater wing-coverts edged and narrowly 

 tipped with pale olive-yellow: under parts white, the 

 under tail-coverts and flanks tinged with sulphur- 

 yellow: sides of head white or brownish-white. 



Nest and Eggs. — Xest: In forks of smaller or 



large trees, usually within 10 feet of ground but often 

 much higher; a beautiful, pensile structure of finely 

 woven vegetable fiber, strips of bark, grasses, and cob- 

 webs and lined with fine grasses, ornamented exteriorly 

 with cocoons, bits of wasps' and spiders' nests. Eggs: 

 3 to 5, white, sparingly speckled with reddish-brown 

 and umber. 



Distribution. — Temperate Xorth America in .gen- 

 eral, except arid districts ; north to Xova Scotia, Prince 

 Edward Island, Keewatin, Saskatchewan, and southern 

 Mackenzie; west to British Columbia (both sides of 

 Cascade range), Washington. Colorado. Utah, etc.; 

 breeding south over whole of wooded region east of 

 Rocky Mountains as far south as Caloosahatchee 

 River, southern Florida, and as far west as Tom Green 

 county, western Texas ; wintering from southern 

 Florida to Bahamas, and through Mexico. Central 

 .America and South America, as far as Brazil. 



If vocal persistence counts for anything, this 

 Vireo should certainly be one of the very best 

 known of our birds, for the male often sings 

 almost incessantly throughout the day, with in- 

 tervals of rarely more than a few seconds be- 

 tween jjhrases of his song. Indeed, the pause 

 between the phrases is so brief that to some ears 

 the effect has been that of a continuous song. 

 like the really connected warble of the Robin. 

 To be sure, the \'ireo's iteration of its phrases 

 does slightly suggest the Robin's carol, but close 

 attention will reveal that after all they are sepa- 

 rate utterances, and not parts of a complete song. 

 Otherwise one would be forced to admit that the 

 song frequently lasted almost literally from early 

 morn to dewy eve. This amazing persistence 

 has earned for the Red-eye from Wilson Flagg 

 the nickname of " Preacher Bird." 



The Red-eye's song ( if indeed it can properly 

 be called a song at all), usually consists in the 

 ceaseless repetition of two-, three-, or four-note 

 phrases, one of which is delivered with the de- 

 clarative and the other with the inquiring inflec- 

 tion, as if the bird were saying over and over 

 again, and rather petulantly, " Here I am! Here 

 I am ! Don't you see me ? Don't you hear me ? 

 Here I am! Don't you see me?" and so on od 

 infinitum. Indeed, so anxious is he, apparently, 

 to be both heard and seen, that occasionally he 

 will sit still for several minutes at a time — a 

 most unwarbler-like trick — and give himself 

 entirely to the repetition of his announcement and 

 inquiry, meanwhile facing first one wav and 

 then the other, as public speakers do in address- 

 ing a big audience out of doors. 



The Red-eye is frequently selected by the 

 female Cowbird as the victim upon whom may 

 be imposed the parental rcsjionsibilities which 



she is too lazy to discharge, 

 remarkable instance of this 

 photographed several times 



Mr. Job records a 

 kind, in which he 

 a female Red-eve 



■ by H. K. Job Courtesy 01 Uutmg Pub. Co. 



RED-EYED VIREO ON ITS NEST 



solicitously feeding two voracious voung Cow- 

 birds, after her own babies had evidently been 

 smothered and thrown out of the nest by the 

 pot-bellied interlopers. 



