Song Birds and Water Fowl 
in my haste, I declared him to be the hand- 
somest of the family of vireos, an assertion 
which, in my cooler judgment, I retract; for 
the yellow - throated vireo must doubtless be 
called the beauty, in this modestly dressy fam- 
ily. The ‘‘ white-eyed ’’ is just like some peo- 
ple, whose vivacity lights up with an actual 
beauty features that are almost homely in re- 
pose. With all the difference in modulation 
of the voice, there is a peculiar rich and ring- 
ing quality of tone common to all the vireos. 
The red-eyed species is a valuable addition to 
our woods, from the fact that his continuous 
message forms so large a part of the entire vol- 
ume of music throughout the day, and the 
summer long. His native acid disposition, 
however, is unmistakable in his call-notes, one 
of which is very similar to the catbird’s snarl. 
The great crested flycatcher, a rather soli- 
tary bird by nature, and the largest of that 
family that stands in scientific odium under the 
technical name of Tyrannidae, was particu- 
larly abundant. Admission to the woodland 
choir has been denied to the entire flycatcher 
family, on the ground that they have no voice 
for music—a valid reason, certainly, for exclu- 
sion, if the case be so with all this group. 
34 
