THE WESTERN WARBLING VIREO: 361 
Authorities.—? treo gilvus, Townsend, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., VIII. 
1839, p- 153 (Columbia River). Vireo gilvus (swainsonii proposed), Baird, 
rep. Pac. RR. Surv., 1X. pt. II. 1858, 336. T. C&S. L. Rh. D'. Ra. D2. J. B. E. 
Specimens.—U. of W. Prov. B. BN. E. 
THE old-fashioned name “Greenlet,”’ as applied to the Vireos, was a mis- 
nomer, if a description of plumage was intended; but if it was intended to 
memorialize the bird’s fondness for greenery, nothing could have been more 
apt. The Warbling Vireo’s surroundings must be not only green, but freshly 
green, for it frequents only deciduous trees in groves and riverside copses. It 
is not an abundant bird, therefore, in Washington, altho equally distributed, 
whether in the willows and birches which gather about some lonesome spring 
in the bunch-grass country, or among the crowded alders and maples of the 
turbid Nooksachk. “Moreover, the bird is not so frequently found about parks 
and shade trees as in the East, altho it looks with strong favor upon the advent 
of orchards. And the orchardist may welcome him with open arms, for there 
is not among all his tenants a more indefatigable gleaner of bugs and worms. 
Because he is clad in Quaker gray there is little need for the Vireo to show 
himself as he sings, and he remains for the most part concealed in the dense 
foliage, a vocal embodiment of the living green. Unlike the disconnected 
fragments which the Red-eye furnishes, the song of this bird is gushing and 
continuous, a rapid excursion over pleasant hills and valleys. Continuous, that 
is, unless the bright-eyed singer happens to spy a worm in medias res, in which 
event the song is instantly suspended, to be resumed a moment later when the 
wriggling tid-bit has been dispatched. 
The notes are flute-like, tender, and 
melodious, having, as Chapman says, 
“a singular alto under- 
tone.” All hours of the 
day are recognized as ap- 
propriate to melody, and 
the song period lasts from 
the time of the bird’s 
arrival, early in May, 
until its departure in Sep- 
tember, with only a brief 
hiatus in July. 
In sharp contrast with — Taken 
mm 
the beautiful canzonettes Oregon. 
which the bird showers BStoNby 
down from the treetops, Peaereeion 
come the harsh, wren-like WESTERN WARBLING VIREO AT NEST. 
