304 
THE CASSIN VIREO. 
These Vireos roam the half-open woods at all levels, like happy 
school children; and their childish curiosity is as little to be resented. If 
one hears a bird singing in the distance, he need only sit down and wait. 
Curiosity will get the better of the bird, and under pretense of chasing 
bugs it will edge over, singing carelessly now and then, by way of 
covering the inquisitive intent. At close range the song is stifled, and 
you feel for the ensuing moments as you do when you have overtaken 
and passed a bevy of ladies on a lonesome street, a// hands and feet with 
a most atrocious 
swagger. Inspec- 
tion done, the 
bird suddenly re- 
sumes the  dis- 
carded melody, 
and you no 
longer have _ to 
“look pleasant.” 
Like most Vi- 
reos, Cassin sings 
as he works; and, 
as he works a 
good deal of the 
time, albeit in 
leisurely fashion, 
he sings in tiny 
phrases, separated 
by unembarrassed 
intervals of si- 
lence, a sort of 
soliloquizing com- 
mentary on life, 
very pleasant to 
the ear,—IVcé ce- 
tsiweéoo - tsoo 
psoot - petewer - 
ptir - sewtrs - piti- 
Wee - suece - pisooor. 
Taken near Tacoma Photo by Dawson and Bowles. 
BRIMFUL,. 
But our schoolboy does not fully express himself in 
music so staid and delicate. He has at command a rasping, nerve-grating 
war-cry, possibly intended by Nature as a defense against cats, but used, 
as matter of fact, when the bird is in particularly fine spirits. The note 
in question may perhaps be fitly likened to the violent shaking of a pepper- 
