THE RED-EYED VIREO 



By T. GILBERT PEARSON 



Cfjc Rational Msfsiociation of Hluliubon Societies! 



EDUCATIONAL LEAFLET NO. 99 



Any boy or girl in eastern United States who begins to study wild birds 

 will probably not proceed very far before learning to know the Red-eyed Vireo. 

 To be sure, it is one of our small birds, measuring only about 6^ inches in 

 length, and this fact, together with its rather dull greenish coat and whitish 

 underparts, renders it of unstriking appearance, yet it is very well known. 

 And why? Chiefly because it sings so much. It announces its arrival in spring 

 with such loud notes that many mistake its calls for those of the Robin. For 

 three full months and more it is with us, and every day, from long before sun- 

 rise until evening, its simple songs are repeated over and over again. No other 

 bird of our land retains its energy and enthusiasm for song as does the Red- 

 eyed Vireo. Neither the anxieties of the nesting season nor the irritations of 

 the molting days appear in the least to affect its behavior in this regard. 



RED-EYED VIREO ON NEST 

 Photograph by Dr. Frank M. Chapman 



No wonder, therefore, the young bird-student soon makes its acquaintance. 

 Even as I write these lines, on a hot afternoon late in June, I can hear the 

 notes of a Vireo coming in through the open window. The bird is out there 

 among the trees of a vacant lot, where the small boys have dug their trenches 

 and are sending forth their volleys of vocal musketry. The savage shouts of 



(266) 



