182 BIRDS THROUGH AN OPERA-GLASS. 
air, and their dull colors serve as non-conductors 
of attention; while the vireos, who live on measure- 
worms and similar morsels, are so exclusively de- 
voted to foliage that they might well be called 
leaf-birds, and their tints harmonize strikingly 
with their habits. They may well be known as 
“ oreenlets.” 
AAXVILL 
OVEN-BIRD ; GOLDEN-CROWNED THRUSH. 
WE have had the loud rattling trill of the yel- 
low hammer, the alarm of the kingfisher, and the 
fine, shrill trill of the chipping sparrow, but now 
we come to one that differs from them all. Mr. 
Burroughs has aptly described it by the word 
teach-er. It seems to beat upon the air, growing 
louder and louder, increasing in intensity, volume, 
and rapidity until the end, like 
8 e . @ 8 ° 
6 pe he ay eg 
sii! ee eee 
ay 
teach-er, teach-er, teach-er, teach-er, teacher 
ee 
Ordinarily the trill is your clue in looking for 
the oven-bird. When you hear it close at hand, 
and fail to see him on a tree, look carefully under 
the bushes on the ground. If you see a bird the 
size of the white-throated sparrow, tossing the 
dead leaves aside with his bill and scratching them 
