THE VIREOS OR GREENLETS 75 



erally chosen by them : they are bits of wood usually stolen 

 from some woodpecker's hole, shreds of paper, and yards 

 and yards of fine caterpillar silk, by which the nest is hung 

 from its slender fork in the thicket. It also contains, not 

 infrequently, alas ! a cowbird's most unwelcome egg. The 

 inscrutable mystery is that this vireo permits the lazy cow- 

 bird to deposit an egg in its nest, and will patiently sit upon 

 it, though it is as large as three of her own tiny eggs; and 

 when the little interloper comes out from his shell the 

 foster-mother will continue to give it the most devoted care 

 long after it has shoved her poor Kttle starved babies out of 

 the nest to meet an imtimely death in the smilax thicket 

 below. She should take a lesson from the clever yellow 

 warbler. 



The Yellow-throated Vireo 



In a family not conspicuous for its fine feathers, this is 

 certainly the beauty. The clear lemon-yellow worn at its 

 throat spreads over its vest; its coat is a richer and more 

 yellowish green than the other vireos wear, and its two 

 white wing-bars are as conspicuous as the white-eyed 

 vireo's. Moreover, its meUow and rich voice, like a con- 

 tralto's, is raised to a higher pitch at the end of a sweetly 

 sung triplet. See me; I'm here; where are you? the singer 

 inquires over and over again from the trees in the wood- 

 land, or perhaps in the village when nesting duties are not 

 engrossing. Don't mistake it for the chat simply because 

 its throat is yellow. 



As this is the beauty of the modest family, so is it also 

 the best nest builder. Its pensile cradle, of exquisite 

 workmanship, frequently hangs from the crotch of some 

 slender tree near water. 



