72 BIRDS 



little smaller than sparrows. More inconspicuous birds it 

 would be hard to find or more abundant, although so com- 

 monly overlooked except by people on the lookout for 

 them. Where the new growth of foliage at the ends of the 

 branches is young and tender, many insects prefer to lay 

 their eggs that their larvae may have the most dainty fare 

 as soon as they are hatched. They do not reckon upon the 

 vireo's visits. 



Toward the end of April or the first of May, these tire- 

 less gleaners return to us from Central and South America 

 where they have spent the winter, which of course is no 

 winter on the other side of the equator, but a continuation 

 of summer for them. Competition for food being more 

 fierce in the tropics than it is here, miUions of birds besides 

 the warblers and vireos travel from beyond the Isthmus of 

 Panama to the United States and back again every year in 

 order that they may live in perpetual summer with an 

 abundance of food. If any one thinks that birds are mere 

 creatures of pleasure, who sing to pass the time away, he 

 doesn't begin to understand how hard they must work for a 

 living. They cannot limit their labors to an eight-hour 

 day. However, they keep cheerful through at least sixteen 

 busy hours. 



The Red-eyed Vireo 



Length — 5.75 to 6.25 inches. A fraction smaller than the 

 English sparrow. 



Male and Female — ^Upper parts duU, light olive-green; well- 

 defined slaty gray cap, with black marginal line, below 

 which, and forming an exaggerated eyebrow, is a line of 

 white. A brownish band runs from base of bill ap- 

 parently through the eye. The iris is ruby-red. Under- 



