THE VIREOS OR GREENLETS 73 



neath white, shaded with light greenish yellow on sides 

 and on under tail and wing coverts. 



Range — ^United States to Rockies and northward. Winters 

 in Central and South America. 



Migrations — ^April. October. Common summer resi- 

 dent. 



Almost everywhere in the eastern United States and 

 Canada, the red-eyed vireo is the most common member of 

 his family. The only individual touch to his costume that 

 helps to distinguish him is a gray cap edged with a 

 black line which runs parallel to his conspicuous white 

 eyebrow. 



Listen to the preacher! You have no need to meet him 

 face to face in order to know him: You see it — you know 

 it — do you hear me? — do you believe it? he propounds in- 

 cessantly through the long summer days, even after most 

 other birds are silent. You cannot mistake his declama- 

 tory voice. With a rising inflection at the end of each 

 short, jerky sentence, he asks a question very distinctly 

 and sweetly, then pauses an instant as if waiting for a re- 

 ply — an unusually courteous orator. His monotonous 

 monologue, repeated over and over again, comes to us from 

 the elms and maples in the village street, the orchard, and 

 woodland, where he keeps steadily and dehberately at 

 work. Just as some boys say they can whittle better if 

 they whistle, so vireos seem to hunt more thoroughly if 

 they sing. 



Vireos are remarkably fine builders — among the very 

 best. Although their nests are not so deep as the Balti- 

 more orioles', the shape and weave are similar. The red- 

 eye usually prefers to swing her cradle from a small crotch 



