70 Birds Every Child Should Know 



soft grayish or olive green on their backs, wings, 

 and tail, whitish or yellow below. Some people 

 call them greenlets. They are all a little smaller 

 than sparrows. More inconspicuous birds it 

 would be hard to find or more abundant, al- 

 though so commonly overlooked except by 

 people on the look-out for them. Where the 

 new growth of foliage at the ends of the branches 

 is young and tender, many insects prefer to lay 

 their eggs that their babies may have the most 

 dainty fare as soon as they are hatched. They 

 do not reckon upon the vireos' visits. 



Toward the end of April or the first of May, 

 these tireless gleaners return to us from Central 

 and South America where they have spent the 

 winter, which of course you know, is no winter 

 on the other side of the equator, but a con- 

 tinuation of summer for them. Competition 

 for food being more fierce in the tropics than 

 it is here, millions of birds besides the warblers 

 and vireos travel from beyond the Isthmus of 

 Panama to the United States and back again 

 every year in order that they may live in per- 

 petual summer with an abundance of food. 

 If any child thinks that birds are mere creatures 

 of pleasure, who sing to pass the time away, he 

 doesn't begin to understand how hard they 

 must work for a living. They cannot limit their 

 labours to an eight-hour day. However, they 

 keep cheerful through at least sixteen busy hours. 



