38g NOUTIl AMERICAN* BIRDS. 



In tlio winter nidntlis tliis sjiecies retires to the more southern States, and 

 to Jikxieu and Conlral and Soiitli Anieriea, tiiough Suniiclirast dues nut give 

 it as occnrring in the J department of A'eni Cruz. Nuttall found it in South 

 Carolina in tlie middle of January, and Wilson met with them in full song in 

 ( ieornia in February. The fact that it was seven weeks after this before they 

 made their ai)i)earance in rennsylvania is given by that writer as evidence 

 of the gradual progression made by ilii.i species in its movements northward, 

 re^^ulated by the devehjpment of the season. Audubon, however, states the 

 first of March as abiuit the time of its first appearance in Louisiana. He 

 also mentions that this species is a constant resident in the Floridas (hir- 

 ing winter, and also in the lower jioitions of Alabama and Georgia. A 

 large number also jiass farther south, as is shown by the abundance of the 

 arrivals in early spring on tlie coast of Texas. Mr. Audubon states also 

 that Townseud met with them on the Cohunbia River, and that he himself 

 found them along the coast in Elaine, Xova Scotia, and Labrador. This, 

 however, I am inclined to consider a misstatement, as they have not since 

 been detected either west of Dakota or north of the 42d parallel. 



This Vin^o is <ine of the most conspicuous singers of this family. Its 

 songs are more earnest and louder than those of any of our Jlastern species, 

 and exhibit the greatest variations, beginning in tiie earlier part of the sea- 

 son with a simple low whistle, but changing in May into a very quaint and 

 peculiar succession of irregular notes. Some of these i.re very softly and 

 sweetly whistled, while others are uttered with a vehemence and shrillness 

 that .seen> hardly ])ossiblc in so small a bird. 



This is an unsus]K'cting and familiar bird, permitting a near approiich, and 

 when whistled t(j will often stop and eye you with marked curiosity, and 

 even approach a little nearer, as if to obtain a better view, entirely uncon- 

 scious of any danger. This is not so", however, when they have a nest. On 

 this occasion they exhil)it great uneasiness when their nest is visited, ap- 

 proaching very near to the intruder, looking down u])on him with marked 

 expressions of uneasiness, and scolding all the while with great earnest- 

 ness, and with a hoarse mewing that is very peculiar. This disj)lay is 

 contnuied even after the fledglings are full grown anil able to take care of 

 themselves. 



The food of this sjiecies in early summer is almost exclusively small in- 

 sects, which it gleans with great assiduity. In Eastern Massachusetts, like 

 all its kindred, it feeds eagerly ui)on the young larva; of the destructive 

 canker-worm, and doubtless, in tiie wilder jxn'tions of the country, is of con- 

 siderable service in restricting the increase of this scourge. 



The AVhite-eyed Virco may usually l)e found in wild, swampy, open 

 grounds, near the edges of woods, and where tliere are small thickets of 

 smilax and other briers and wild vines, in the midst of which it often builds 

 its pensile nest. These nests are rarely, if ever, more tiian three or four feet 

 iVom the ground. Two nests of tliis liird, one from Neoslio Falls, Kansas, 



