How to Name the Birds 



125 





Song. — While not great musicians, the Vireos are pleasing singers. 

 "In the quaint and curious ditty of the White-eye — in the earnest, 

 voluble strains of the Red-eye — in 

 the tender secret that the Warbling 

 Vireo confides in whispers to the 

 passing breeze — he is insensible 

 who does not hear the echo of 

 thoughts he never clothes in 

 words." — Coues. 



Family 12. Warblers. Mnioliltidee. % 



Range. — Like the Vireos, the 

 Warblers are exclusively American 

 birds, ranging from the fur coun- 

 tries to Argentina. About one hun- 

 dred species are known, of which 

 sixty reach the United States, thirty- 

 eight of this number being found 

 east of the Mississippi. 



Season. — Like all our strictly 

 insectivorous birds, Warblers are 

 highly migratory. Only one species 

 occurs in temperate latitudes dur- 

 ing the season of heavy frosts, and 

 this, the Myrtle Warbler, becomes 

 for a time a fruit-eater, subsisting 

 on the berries of the myrtle or 

 bayberry. The migration of War- 

 blers begins in early April with the 

 coming of the Palm Warbler, and 

 in the fall is not concluded until 

 the same species takes its depar- 

 ture, about November 1. 



Color. — Olive - green above , 

 whitish or yellow below, with white 

 wing - bars and tail - patches, and 

 conspicuous yellow or black mark- 

 ings, describes the characteristic 

 coloring of most Warblers, but so 

 widely do they vary in color that 

 no one type can be made to stand 

 ior the group. As with many 



