BIKDS OF INDIANA. 



1017 



Nest, in thickets, second-growth and swampy places along streams; 

 oblong, bag-shaped, depending from a horizontal forked twig of tree 

 or bush near ground (1 to 4 feet, rarely 8 feet); composed of moss, 

 cocoons, bark, grass, lichens; lined with fine strips of bark. Eggs, 

 3-5; white, speckled with reddish-brown and dark purple; .72 by .54. 



Details of structure of White eyed Vireo. Natural size. 



4 



The White-eyed Vireo is a summer resident throughout most of 

 Indiana. It is common in suitable localities in the southern part of 

 the State, generally northward it is more rare, and in the north- 

 western part, particularly about Lake Michigan, it seems to be want- 

 ing. It frequents thickets, brier patches, undergrowth in more open 

 woods and the tangle about ravines in the rougher part of the State. 

 It is seldom found far from water, and appears to be most often 

 noticed about the edges of the denser growths, where it makes its 

 home. While the greater number of persons do not know it, and it 

 would be a strange bird to them, it is probable that those who are ac- 

 quainted with it overestimate its numbers. They are often heard, 

 but many birds whose voices we seldom hear are more numerous. 

 They are irregular in their distribution, and every copse where they 

 are found shelters one pair, and only one. When the bird discovers 

 an intruder it comes to meet him. First flying to some opening 

 where it can get a good look at him unperceived, it next makes itself 

 known by a sharp "click," which is surprising in its suddenness. This 

 is followed by a peculiar, jerky song, uttered with an alternating 

 emphasis and repeated over and over again, as the fidgety little green 

 bird is alternately seen and heard among the bushes close by the path. 

 Mr. Eidgway says the boys in southern Illinois have interpreted its 

 song as "chick'ty-beaver, lim'ber, stick," with special emphasis on the 

 first syllable of each word. In Bermuda the natives say its notes are 

 "ginger beer, quick!" Its song is heard in the morning and at mid- 

 day; it sounds on bright and dark days alike, and continues, with 

 sometimes a slight interruption in midsummer, from the day of its 



