THE RED -EYED VIREO 



By T. GILBERT PEARSON 



THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF AUDUBON SOCIETIES 

 Educational Leaflet No. 99 



Any boy or girl in the eastern United States who begins to study wild 

 birds, will probably not proceed very far before learning to know the 

 Red-eyed Vireo. To be sure, it is one of our small birds, measuring only 

 about six and one-quarter inches in length, and this fact together with 

 its rather dull greenish coat and whitish underparts, renders it of un- 

 striking appearance, yet it is very well known. And why? Chiefly be- 

 cause it sings so much. It announces its arrival in Spring with such loud 



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RF.D F.VF.D VIKEO ON NEST 

 Photograph by Dr. Frank M. Chapman 



notes that many mistake its calls for those of the Robin. For three full 

 months and more it is with us, and every day, from long before sunrise 

 until evening its simple songs are repeated over and over again. No 

 other bird of our land retains its energy and enthusiasm for song as does 

 the Red-eyed Vireo. Neither the anxieties of the nesting season nor the 

 irritations of the molting days appear in the least to affect its behavior 

 in this regard. 



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