Sweet little prattler, whom the morning sun 



Found singing, and this livelong summer day 



Keeps warbling still : here have I dreamed 



away 



Two bright and happy hours, that passed like 



one, 

 Lulled by thy silvery converse, just begun 

 And never ended. 



Throughout eastern North America, 

 east of the Great Plains and from Flor- 

 ida to Newfoundland and Manitoba, the 

 Yellow-throated Vireo frequents the tree 

 tops of forest, orchard, and lawn, sel- 

 dom descending from the "upper story 

 of his home." In this habitat this Vireo 

 may be easily known by its habits and 

 by the bright yellow color of its breast. 

 To the initiated, its song and its call 

 notes are also a ready means of identifi- 

 cation. While it is a bird of the forests, 

 especially the forests of lowlands, its 

 habits vary greatly and are adapted to the 

 locality in which it may have located. 

 Excepting the time of nesting, when this 

 "beauty of the Vireo family" prefers, 

 though it does not always select the seclu- 

 sion of the foliage of tall trees on the 

 banks of a stream, it may become quite 

 familiar and seem to enjoy the society 

 of man. 



The Yellow-throated Vireo, which Mr. 

 Ridgway has designated "The most 

 remarkable of all the species of the fam- 

 ily which occur within the United 

 States," is well described by the words 

 of Neltje Blanchan regarding the Vireo 

 group of birds: "A group of neat, 

 active, stoutly built, and vigorous little 

 birds of yellow, greenish, and white 

 plumage ; birds that love the trees, and 

 whose feathers reflect the coloring of the 

 leaves they hide, hunt, and nest among." 

 Mr. Ridgway considers it the finest 

 songster of all those Vireos which reach 

 the northern States, and says that it has 

 the "loudest notes of admonition and 

 reproof, and is the handsomest in plu- 

 mage." Mr. Chapman writes enthusi- 

 astically of its song. He says : "If the 

 red-eyed vireo is a soprano, the Yellow- 

 throat is a contralto. He sings much the 

 same tune, but his notes are deeper and 

 richer, while they are uttered more delib- 

 erately and with greater expression than 

 those of his somewhat too voluble 

 cousin. 'See me; I'm here; where are 

 you?' he calls, and at intervals repeats 

 his question in varying forms. Some- 



times he astonishes us by an intricate 

 liquid trill which suggests the wonderful 

 song of the ruby kinglet, but which 

 unfortunately is sometimes marred by 

 the scolding notes that precede or follow 

 it." 



An early writer on ornithology says 

 of the Yellow-throated Vireo: "This 

 summer species is found chiefly in the 

 woods, hunting among the high 

 branches ; and has an indolent and plaint- 

 ive note, which it repeats, with little 

 variation, every ten or twelve seconds, 

 like preeb, preea, etc. It is often heard 

 in company with the red-eyed flycatcher 

 (vireo) ; the loud, energetic notes of the 

 latter, mingling with the soft, languid 

 warble of the former, producing an agree- 

 able effect, particularly during the burn- 

 ing heat of noon, when almost every 

 other songster but these two is silent. 

 Those who loiter through the shades of 

 our magnificent forests at that hour will 

 easily recognize both species." Mr. 

 Amos W. Butler speaks of its song as 

 fine and peculiar, "commencing always 

 with a clear and mellow queery, queery." 

 He also savs that its alarm note reminds 

 him of that of the wren. 



The song of this Vireo is varied and 

 quite confusing. It differs from the red- 

 eyed vireo in having "rough-edged notes, 

 in briefer phrases." The song is also 

 uttered with greater deliberation and 

 emphasized expression. Reverend J. H. 

 Langille says : "It keeps well up in the 

 tops of trees, diligently gleaning as it 

 sings, vireo, viree-ee, wee-rcc, etc., in 

 tones rather shrill for a vireo, and not 

 nearly so finely modulated and fluent as 

 those of its relative the red-eye, but 

 greatly resembling them." The song, 

 while often very similar to that of the 

 warbling vireo differs always in variety 

 and strength. Mr. Dawson likens its 

 very characteristic scolding notes, or 

 "choleric tirade" as he calls them, to the 

 syllables, "zee, tzu, tzu, tzu, tzu, tzu, tzu, 

 tzu, becoming rapid at first and then 

 slowing down ; or else plain tzu tzu tzu 

 tzu tzu tzu tzu with exceeding rapidity 

 at the start and a raliendo finish." Mr. 

 Dawson also says that these scolding 

 notes form a "nutmeg-grater cry like the 

 house wren's, but on a larger scale." 



The nesting habits of the Yellow- 

 throated Vireo are most interesting. It 



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