RED-EYED VIREO. 1 85 



In the month of August the young fed greedily on the small 

 berries of the bitter cornel and astringent Viburnum dentatuin^ 

 as well as other kinds. One of these inexperienced birds 

 hopped close round me in an adjoining bush, without any fear- 

 ful apprehension; and as late as the 26th of October two 

 young birds of the Red- Eye were still lingering in this vicinity, 

 and busily engaged in gleaning subsistence. Eager after flies, 

 about the 25 th of August a young bird with hazel instead of 

 red eyes entered a chamber in the neighborhood and became 

 my inmate. I clipped his wing and left him at large in a 

 room; he soon became very gentle, took grasshoppers and 

 flics out of my hand, eat Viburnum berries with a good appe- 

 tite, and in short seemed pleased with his quarters. A fly 

 could not stir but it was instantly caught ; his only difficulty 

 was with a lame King Bird who occupied the same apartment. 

 The King appeared very jealous of this little harmless com- 

 panion ; snapped his bill at him when he approached, and be- 

 grudged him subsistence when he perceived that he fed on the 

 same food with himself. At length he would come to me for 

 provision and for protection from his tyrannical associate. But 

 the career of my interesting and lively companion was soon 

 terminated by death, occasioned, in all probability, by a diar- 

 rhoea produced in consequence of swallowing a small lock of 

 hair with his food, which was found in his stomach. This bird, 

 very different from a Sylvia autumnalis which I afterwards had 

 in my possession, regurgitated by the bill, like the King Bird, 

 pellets of the indigestible parts of his food, such as the legs 

 and wings of grasshoppers and flies, and the skins and seeds of 

 berries. Unlike the King Bird in one particular, however, he 

 folded his head under his wing when at rest, and reposed with 

 great soundness ; whereas for eight months I was never able to 

 detect the former asleep. 



