WHITE-EYED VIREO 207 



A very handsome, but somewhat rarer form than 

 the preceding in the United States, is the Blue- 

 headed, or Sohtary, Vireo, whose, back is bright olive- 

 green, top and sides of head bluish-ash colour, wings 

 marked with two white bars, and under parts pure 

 white. This bird is the first of its family to reach the 

 Northern States in the spring, and the last to leave 

 for its southern home. 



The White-eyed Vireo is abundant in summer in 

 the undergrowth of our Eastern States. The bright 

 olive-green of its upper parts are washed with greyish, 

 and the wings have two distinct yellowish-white bars. 

 A marked character is the white iris, which, however, 

 is brown in the young bird. The White-eyed Vireo 

 has considerable ability as a singer, and varies his own 

 sweet son^ with the notes of other birds. 



Wagtails and Pipits 



These birds are found principally in the Old World, 

 only three out of the sixty or more known species 

 inhabiting America. Though the Wagtails and Pipits 

 are closely related, so far as colouration is concerned 

 the two groups differ conspicuously: the Wagtails 

 have a beautifully harmonious, but rather brightly 

 coloured plumage, while the Pipits as a rule are 

 clothed in sober brown, relieved by streaks and spots 

 of darker brown. In both groups the legs are rela- 

 tively long, and the inner quill-feathers of the wing, 

 or inner secondaries, are so long that they reach the 

 end of the primaries when the wing is closed — a char- 

 acter shared by the Larks. These birds do not hop. 



