204 USEFUL BIRDS. 
Red-eyed Vireo. 
Vireo olivaceus. 
Length. — About six inches. 
Adult.— Upper parts grayish olive-green, changing to gray on the crown; a dark 
stripe on either side of the crown; a light stripe over the eye, and dark 
streak from bill through eye; under parts grayish-white, deepening to pale 
olive-yellow on the flanks; iris ruby-red. 
Nest.— A pensile cup; usually hung by its upper edge from a fork, five to 
twenty-five feet from the ground. 
Eggs. — White, spotted with dark brown at the larger end. 
Season. — May to September. 
The Red-eyed Vireo, although not so abundant as the 
Robin, is one of the most common and widely distributed 
summer birds. It breeds throughout the State. It is very 
devoted to its eggs and 
young, and sits very closely 
on the nest. The mother 
bird will often allow a per- 
son to walk by within arm’s 
length while she remains 
quietly sitting. The par- ° 
ent birds feed and protect 
their young for a long time 
after they leave the nest. 
This Vireo sleeps very 
soundly ; soon after sunset and before the shades of night 
have fallen the mother bird on her nest tucks her head under 
her wing, and is sometimes so oblivious to the world that 
she may be approached and taken in the hand. The Red- 
eye is found wherever there are groups of deciduous trees, 
or woodlands and thickets. Its movements as it slips about 
among the branches are rather deliberate. It sings continu- 
ally, but the song is intermittent, as though the bird were 
singing incidentally as a pastime, like a boy whistling at his 
work. The song is composed of phrases of a few syllables 
each, and the manner of its delivery, with many rising and 
some falling inflections and frequent pauses, led Wilson Flagg 
to name the bird the “ preacher.” Many years ago I learned 
that the preacher had other business than his preaching, and 
that he practised as he preached ; for it was through watching 
Fig. '71.— Red-eyed Vireo, natural size. 
