RED-EYED VIREO. 



The handsome Cedar Waxwing is therefore a bird of 

 use as well as beauty; but alas for his song I It does not 

 exist, or if it ever did it is now reduced to the level of 

 a pianissimo imitation of the whistle belonging to the 

 Italian's peanut roaster which sings on the corner of our 

 city streets. Mr. Torrey writes pleasingly about the al- 

 most unbroken silence of this bird's life, and adds: "Of 

 course I refer to the Waxwing whose faint, sibilant 

 whisper can scarcely be thought to contradict the fore- 

 going description. By what strange freak he has lapsed 

 into this ghostly habit, nobody knows. I make no ac- 

 count of the insinuation that he gave up music because 

 it hindered his success in cherry-stealing. He likes 

 cherries it is true, . . . but he would need to work 

 hard to steal more than does that indefatigable songster, 

 the Robin." 



I have managed, not without some difficulty, to locate 

 the note of the average Waxwing at E flat, just three 

 tones beyond the limit of the piano 1 



v r - r - 



The beady 

 note. 



There is also a burred note, which Thoreau calls his 

 "beady note," included in the above notation. That is 

 the best and only representation it is possible for me to 

 give of the voice of this assthetic squeaker. 



Family Vireonidce. VIREOS. 



This group of birds is very nearly related to the War- 

 blers; but in song and habits the Vireos show traits 

 which are distinctly their own. There are about fifty 

 species in America, to which country this family exclu- 

 sively belongs, but only five species may be considered 

 common in eastern North America. 



Red-eyed The few species of Vireos commonly 



found in the eastern part of our country 

 Vireo ohvaceus ... _ J 



L. 6.20 inches are extremely interesting and useful birds, 

 May i2th far more musical than the so-called War- 



blers to which they are closely related, and certainly 

 149 



