THE WHITE-EYED VIREO. 147 



which form detached groves in abandoned fields, where its presence is at 

 once known by the smartness of its song. This song is composed of many 

 different notes, emitted with great spirit, and a certain degree of pomposity, 

 which makes it differ materially from that of all other Flycatchers. It is 

 frequently repeated during the day. 



These birds become at once so abundant, that it would be more difficult 

 not to meet one, than to observe a dozen or more, during a morning walk. 

 Their motions are as animated as their music. They pass from twig to twig, 

 upwards or downwards, examining every opening bud and leaf, and securing 

 an insect or a larva at every leap. Their flight is short, light, and easy. 

 Their migrations are performed during the day, and by passing from one 

 low bush to another, for these birds seldom ascend to the tops of even mode- 

 rately tall trees. Like all our other visiters, they move eastward as the 

 season opens, and do not reach the Middle States before the end of April, or 

 the beginning of May. Notwithstanding this apparently slow progress, 

 they reach and disperse over a vast expanse of country. I have met with 

 some in every part of the United States which I have visited. 



Many remain in Louisiana, where they rear two broods, perhaps some- 

 times three, in a season. Of this, however, I am not quite certain. I never 

 saw them alight on the ground, unless for the purpose of drinking, or of 

 procuring fibrous roots for their nests. They are fond of sipping the dew 

 drops that hang at the extremities of leaves. Their sorties after insects 

 seldom extend beyond the bushes. 



About the first of April, the White-eyed Flycatcher forms a nest of dry 

 slender twigs, broken pieces of grasses, and portions of old hornets' nests, 

 which have so great a resemblance to paper, that the nest appears as if 

 studded with bits of that subctance. It is lined with fine fibrous roots, and 

 the dried filaments of the Spanish moss. The nest is of the form of an 

 inverted cone, and is fastened to two or three twigs of a green briar, a 

 species of smilax abundant in the old fields and along the fences. The eggs 

 are from four to six, of a pure white, with a few dark spots near the larger 

 end. In those districts where the Cow-bird is found, it frequently drops one 

 of its eggs among them. I have seen the first brood from the nest about the 

 middle of May. Unless when disturbed while upon its nest, this bird is 

 extremely sociable, and may be approached within a few feet; but when 

 startled from the nest, it displays the anxiety common to almost all birds on 

 such occasions. The difference of colour in the sexes is scarcely perceptible. 

 I have ascertained that this species is a constant resident in the Floridas 

 during winter, as well as in the lower parts of Alabama and Georgia. A 

 great number, however, pass beyond our limits, for at Galveston Island I 

 found them arriving from the south. It extends its movements across the 



