THE RED-EYED VIREO. 



295 



itself easily in 

 the foliage of 

 the upper 

 branches ; but 

 the voice of 

 good cheer, 

 Vireo - viree - 

 vireoo, fre- 

 quently repeat- 

 ed, is enough, 

 not only to res- 

 cue the bird 

 from oblivion. 

 but to immor- 

 talize it. 



The Red-eye 

 does occasion- 

 ally make itself 

 heard in isolat- 

 ed pasture elms 

 and a m o n g 

 the shade-trees 

 of the city, but 

 its normal 

 range is in the 

 deeper woods 

 and groves. 

 Here it moves 

 in a leisurely 

 manner from 

 bough to 

 bough, examin- 

 ing critically 

 each leaf and 



bud, or making little sallies after insect prey. Its soliloquizing notes are often 

 uttered— always in single phrases of from two to four syllables each— while 

 the bird is busily hunting, and serve to mark an overflow of good spirits rather 

 than a studied attempt at song. There is about them also an interrogative 

 character which Wilson Flagg has paraphrased, "You see it— you know it- 

 do you hear me?— do you believe it?" "The Preacher" not infrequently en- 

 forces his homilies by hopping down slowly from the tree-tops and bringing 

 the truth home to his hearers. The bird's inqnisitiveness is often his salva- 



•DO YOU HEAR ME? DO YOU BELIEVE 



