AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 325 



THE WARBLING VIREO, 



"Dear me, dear me; hear me, hear me.'" 



What's the matter pray? 

 Clatter, clatter; chatter, chatter, 



All the livelong- day. 

 Up among- the bloom and leaf. 



Peeping out from underneath. 

 Little bird so pretty, O, 



Don't you ever stop to breathe, 

 Darling little Vireo? 



Trees that screen it, dainty greenlet. 



Never screen its song. 

 "What so happy, O, as the Vireo?" 



Ringeth loud and long. 

 What so cheery, O, as the Vireo, 



What so jolly, O, sweet, 

 "What so merry, O, as the Vireo?" 



All the leaves repeat. 



If rain doth spatter, thunder clatter, 



Still for a bit I'll be. 

 But the sun's behind it, I never mind it, 



Safe up in my tree. 

 It doesn't matter, the clouds will scatter. 



So I rest myself a wee. 

 Then clatter, clatter, chatter, chatter. 



Over lawn and lee. 

 "Hear me, the Vireo, all so merry, O." 



Bubbling in my tree. 



My mate, you've heard, is a lovely bird, 



Looks just like me, so neat. 

 In our home on the limb, all snug and trim, 



Is my little wife, so sweet. 

 Greenish brown is her quiet gown, 



White is her downy breast. 

 Sweet, have no fear for I'm very near. 



To the place I love the best. 

 When the nestlings come to our little home, 



