272 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 



" The whole is delivered almost without any sensible interval, 

 with earnest animation, in a pathetic, tender, and pleasing strain, 

 well calculated to produce calm and thoughtful reflection in the 

 sensitive mind. Yet, while this heavenly reverie strikes on 

 the human ear with such peculiar effect, the humble musician 

 himself seems but little concerned : for all the while, perhaps, that 

 this flowing chorus enchants the hearer, he is casually hopping 

 from spray to spray in quest of his active or crawling prey ; and, 

 if a cessation occurs in his almost untiring lay, it is occasioned by 

 the caterpillar or fly he has fortunately just captured. So unaf- 

 fected are these delightful efforts of instinct, and so unconscious is 

 the performer, apparently, of this pleasing faculty bestowed upon 

 him by nature, that he may truly be considered as a messenger of 

 harmony to man alone, appointed by the fiat of the Creative 

 power. Wantonly to destroy these delightful aids to sentimental 

 happiness ought therefore to be viewed, not only as an act of bar- 

 barity, but almost as a sacrilege." 



The Red-eyed Vireo commences building about the first 

 week in June, frequenting the woods rather more commonly 

 than the pastures and orchards, although it often breeds in 

 these places. The nest is pensile, and is hung from the 

 fork of a small limb of a tree, seldom more than fifteen or 

 twenty feet from the ground : it is constructed of thin strips 

 of cedar bark, pieces of wasps' nests, spiders' nests, pieces of 

 caterpillars' silk, and other pliable materials. These are 

 woven together neatly and compactly, and agglutinated 

 together by the bird's saliva. It is suspended in the form 

 of a basket from the forked twig to which it is attached, or 

 rather sewed firmly. It is lined with narrow strips of 

 grape-vine bark, pine leaves, and sometimes fine grass. On 

 the outside are often visible bits of rotten wood, fragments 

 of newspapers, and hornet's nests. One specimen in my col- 

 lection, obtained in Maine, is constructed almost entirely of 

 pieces of the bark of the white birch : it is a very neat 

 fabric. The eggs are four in number, pure-white in color, 

 and thinly spotted, chiefly at the great end, with dots of 



