286 KNOWING BIRDS THROUGH STORIES 



the nest they follow their parents, all hunting together for 

 a long time. The vireo usually rears but one brood in a 

 season, feeding the young birds for some time after they 

 leave the nest. 



We have many kinds of vireos in America, but the red- 

 eyed is the most widely distributed. They are all small 

 birds, the red-eyed being about six and a quarter inches long 

 from the end of the bill to the tip of the tail, two inches of 

 this being taken up by the tail. The bill is pointed, and the 

 entire bird is a trim, slender little creature. The back, 

 rump, edges of the wings, and tail feathers are of bright 

 olive green, rather more olive than green. The sides of 

 the head and the neck are paler. The top of the head is a 

 dark ashy color sharply edged by a dark line. A white 

 line just below this dark line runs from the bill across 

 over the eye nearly to the back of the head. The bird is 

 white beneath and often shows pale sulphur yellow under 

 the tail. All of the vireos are delightful birds, and are es- 

 pecially valuable in that they feed almost wholly on cater- 

 pillars and insects with a few weed seeds. 



From the key you can learn the family characteristics, 

 and you ought to be able to find three or four kinds of 

 vireos in your vicinity. The red-eyed vireo, of course, has 

 a red eye, which is one means of distinguishing it from its 

 fellows. 



