FOOD OF WEST VIRGINIA BIRDS 59 



red iris may be seen. Some of these birds are quite confiding in dis- 

 position and can be studied with the greatest ease. Then, too, it is 

 never difficult to find the Vireos nor their nests, because they sing or 

 scold or call all day long and their whereabouts is never in question. 

 I have often followed the song of the Red-eyed or Yellow-throated 

 Vireos for a long distance knowing that I would find associated with 

 them other woodland birds. The Vireos are good guides to the bird- 

 student when he goes into the woods looking for interesting species. The 

 song is loud and he goes into the woods looking for interesting species. 

 The song is loud and may be heard at a long distance. In West Virginia 

 we have seven species. Though they all differ in very striking fashion 

 there are close resemblances in many respects. The Red-eyed Vireo 

 is a common summer resident. I have found this bird in all sections of 

 the State. Several times in the month of July I have seen these 

 birds fly silently into a bush of the alternate-leaved dogwood and eat 

 several of the berries. They seem to be especially fond of this kind 

 of fruit. I have also seen this species feeding upon cultivated sweet 

 cherries, wild black cherries, "bird" cherries, mulberries, sassafras 

 berries, black-fruited holly, and common elder berry. The Red-eyed 

 Vireo is recognized as a great insect eater. Mr. Arthur C. Gilbert says 

 he fed a young bird of this species a hundred grasshoppers in one day 

 and he ate them all. The Philadelphia Vireo is very rare and has been 

 taken but once in this State. On the other hand the Warbling Vireo, 

 which the Philadelphia so closely resembles, is very common and is 

 the most sociable bird of this family. Any day from April to October 

 this little gray Vireo may be heard singing a most pleasing song out 

 among our orchard trees or in the shade trees along the city streets. 

 Many a man has been unconsciously cheered by the bright song of this 

 little hidden optimist. The food of this species is made up almost en- 

 tirely of the insects that feed on the leaves of trees. The Yellow- 

 throated Vireo is larger than some of the others and, as his name indi- 

 cates, is of more striking colors. This species is a superior songster and 

 his rich contralto voice can be heard from far away. Like the Red-eye 

 his food is gathered in the tops of forest trees, especially the oaks, and 

 among the shrubbery in woodlands and fields of second growth. The 

 Blue-headed Vireo is a beautiful bird with bright grayish-blue head and 

 white eyerings. It is only a migrant here, is quite rare and is of no 

 particular economic value in this section. The Mountain Vireo is a 

 southern form of the last named species. It reaches its northern limit 

 in the Alleghenies of western Maryland and northern West Virginia. I 

 have found this species to be quite common in the mountains of our 

 State. Last summer Mr. Orr R. King, my assistant, found this species 

 feeding upon the fruit of the red elder berry and service berry at Pickens. 

 Randolph County. The last species on this list of Vireos is the White- 

 eyed Vireo. It is found only within the limits of the Carolina Life Zone 

 in our State, that is, in the southern parts of the State and along the 

 Ohio, Little Kanawha, Elk and Monongahela Rivers, up to an altitude 

 of about 1,500 feet above sea level. The White-eye Is most common 

 in old grown-up fields and along streams that are bordered with shrub- 



