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THE YELLOW-THRO /VTED FLYCATCHER, 

 OR VIREO. 



P'iREO FLAVIFRONS, ViEILL. 

 PLATE CXIX. Male. 



While the small White-eyed Vireo rambles among the low bushes 

 and brambles of the fields of all parts of the United States, the Yellow- 

 throated species takes possession of the forest, and gleans with equal ease 

 among the branches of the tallest trees, to which it seems to give a mark- 

 ed preference during the spring and summer. It is fond of the quietest 

 solitudes, and in its habits is nearly allied to the Red-eyed Vireo. Like 

 it also, it is a slow, careful, and industrious bird, never imitating the 

 petulant, infantile, and original (if I may so speak) freaks of its gay rela- 

 tive, the White-eyed. It is more silent than either of the species above 

 mentioned, although its notes have a strong resemblance to those of the 

 Red-eyed. These notes are more measured and plaintive than those of 

 any of its tribe, sometimes consisting of sounds resembling the syllables 

 pree-d, pree-d, rising and falling in sweet modulation. One might imagine 

 them the notes of a bird lost in the woods, and they make a strong im- 

 pression on the mind of the listener. Now and then the sight of his mate 

 seems to animate the male, when he repeats the same syllables eight or 

 ten times in succession. When sitting pensively on a twig, as if waiting 

 for an invitation to sing, it utters a kind of whining sound, and in autumn, 

 as well as during its retrograde march towards the south, it becomes quite 

 silent. 



When searching for food, it ascends the branches of trees by regular 

 short hops, examining with care every leaf and bud in its way, never 

 leaving a branch for another until it is quite assured that nothing re- 

 mains on it. When flying to some distance, its motions, although quick, 

 are irregular, and it passes among the boughs at a moderate height. 



This species is at all times extremely rare in Louisiana, where I have 

 seen it only during early spring or late in the autumn. My friend Bach- 

 man, has never observed it in South Carolina. Indeed, it is only from 

 Pennsylvania eastward that it is met with in any quantity. During sum- 

 mer it feeds entirely on insects, devouring with equal pleasure cater- 

 pillars, small moths, wasps, and wild bees. The summer over, it ranges 



