468 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



bii'd, possessing a strong voice for its size, and a 

 great variety of note ; and singing with little in- 

 termission from its first arrival, about the middle 

 of April, till a little before its departure in Sep- 

 tember. « * * * Xhis bird builds a very 

 neat little nest ; often in the form of an inverted 

 cone ; it is suspended by the upper edge of the 

 two sides, on the circular bend of a prickly vine — 

 a species of smilax that generally grows in low 

 thi(:kets. Outwardly, it is constructed of various 

 light materials, bits of rotten wood, fibres of dry 

 stalks of weeds, pieces of paper, commonly news- 

 papers, an article almost always found about its 

 nest, so that some of my friends have given it the 

 name of the Politician ; all these substances are 

 interwoven with the silk of caterpillars, and the 

 inside is lined with fine, dry grass and hair. The 

 female lays five eggs, pure white, marked near the 

 great end with a few small dots of deep black or 

 purple." It is similar to the preceding species in 

 size and general colors. 



The Yellow-Thuoated Viiieo, ( Vireo flavi- 

 frons, Vieill.,) though less common than the Red- 

 eyed, is not very rare in the forests of New Eng- 

 land, to which it is chiefly confined ; its wild, mu- 

 sical pree-o, pree-a, prcc-e, etc., is not vnifrequent- 

 ly heard, however, from the tall elms and majjles 

 that are found shading our quiet village streets. 

 It arrives hei'e in May, from Mexico and Centval 

 America, spends the summer with us, and returns 

 with its young early in September. Its principal 

 food at all seasons is winged insects, though, in 

 common with its numerous congeners, it feeds 

 more or less in August, ujion whortleberries and 

 other small, wild fruits. The nest of this species, 

 Wilson observes, "is sometimes fixed on the up- 

 per side of a limb, sometimes on a horizontal 

 branch among the twigs, generally on a tree, is 

 composed outwardly of thin strips of the bark of 

 grape vines, moss, lichens, and lined with fine 

 fibres of such like substances ; the eggs, usually 

 four, are white, thinly dotted with bkick, chiefly 

 near the great end." 



This neatly-colored species measures five and a 

 half inches in length ; and about nine in the ex- 

 tent of tlie wings. General color above, delicate, 

 bright yellow-olive ; line over the eye, throat and 

 breast, bright lemon-yellow ; rest of the lower 

 parts, white. 



The Solitary Vireo, {Vireo Solitaritis, 

 Vieill.,) is the rarest of its genus in New England, 

 and though inhabiting the whole United States, 

 from the Atlantic to the Pacific, is a less numer- 

 ous species than either of the preceding. Wilson, 

 Avho first described it, saw but three individuals, 

 and all authors agree in esteeming it rare; and 

 we know but little concerning its history. I have 

 met with it several times at Springfield, always 

 early in May ; my attention was first attracted to 

 it by its beautiful song, which excels even that of 

 the Warbling Vireo, which is such a xniiversal fa- 

 vorite, being louder and more prolonged, and fully 

 as lively and agreeable, though a little less hur- 

 ried. In every instance it appeared restless and 

 shy, constantly hopping from limb to limb, and 

 flying from tree to tree, frequently repeating its 

 song. 



This species is five inches long, and about eight 

 in extent. Above, fine green olive, head and neck 

 bluish ash ; breast, pale ash ; sides yellow ; lares, 

 black. 



The Warbling Vireo, ( Vireo gilvus, Bon,,) is 

 not an uncommon denizen of the orchard, and 

 high trees that border the streets of our vil- 

 lages and cities, quite avoiding the forest, and ap- 

 pai-ently courting the society of man. It much 

 resembles the Red-eyed Vireo in colors, but is 

 somewhat less in size ; it is found throughout the 

 United States, from the Atlantic to the Pacific 

 coast, reaching this latitude from the South early 

 in May, and lingering here till late in autumn, 

 even sometimes till October, when its sweet war- 

 ble is heard from among the withering leaves, long 

 after all other songsters have l^ecome silent, or 

 have left for a more southern section. The almost 

 unrivalled sweetness and easy flow of its warbling 

 ditty, and its unsuspecting habits, often suspend- 

 ing its delicately-woven nest from the drooping 

 branches of the elms that overhang the crowded 

 streets, endear him to all. Throughout the whole 

 summer, his soothing notes are heard, in the heat- 

 ed hour cf noonday, when most birds are silent, 

 as well as at early dawn, as he hunts the noxious 

 insects that prey upon the foliage of our fruit and 

 ornamental trees. This species often continues 

 hunting in the same tree for hours, dextrously 

 seizing on the insects that infest it, repeating its 

 song every two or three minutes, or oftener ; yet 

 it is difficult to discover the bird, hidden among 

 the thick foliage. The nest is usually fastened to 

 a drooping branch of an apple tree or an elm, by 

 its upper edge, and constructed of fibres of tough, 

 dry grass, and strings, when obtainable, and the 

 silky webs of caterpillars and spiders, and neatly 

 lined with hair and soft, downy substances ; the 

 whole forming a substantial structure that often 

 resists the elements for more than one season. 

 The eggs, usually four, are pure white, sparingly 

 marked with specks of bright brown around the 

 larger end. It is strongly attached to its nest, and 

 exhibits great distress when it is exposed to dan- 

 ger. J. A. A. 



Springfield, Mass., 1862. 



To Prevent Ink from Damaging Steel 

 Pens. — TJirow, either into the ink-stand or the 

 bottle in which the ink is kept, a few nails, brok- 

 en bits of steel pens, (not varnished,) or any piece 

 of iron not rusted. The corrosive action of the 

 acid contained in the ink is expended on the iron 

 introduced, and which is soon covered by the de- 

 composition of the sulphate of copper, which gives 

 the coppery hue observable on metallic pens used 

 with common ink. The ink will not aftect the 

 pen, or, should it still do so, it will be necessary 

 to add more iron, and the mischief will be entire- 

 ly remedied. 



Chloride of Lime as an Insecticide. — 

 Dingley's Folytechni sokes Journal says that 

 sprinkling beils of vegetables with even a weak 

 solution of this salt effectually ))reserves them 

 from caterpillars, butterflies, mordella, slugs, &c. 

 It has the same effect when sprinkled on the foli- 

 age of fruit trees. A paste of one part of powdered 

 chloride of lime, and one-half part of some fatty 

 matter, placed in a narrow band round the trunk 

 of the tree, prevents insects from creeping up to 

 it. It has ever been noticed that rats and mice 

 quit places in which a quantity of chloride of lime 

 has been spread. 



