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FAMILY — VIREONIDAE. VIREOS OR GREENLETS 
General Description. Small, warbler-like birds generally coloured in green and white 
with more or less yellow in softly suffused masses and without much definite marking. 
The bill is perceptibly notched and hooked at the tip (Figure 277) much 
like that of the Shrike, but is on a much smaller and lighter scale. 
Distinctions. The Vireos are most likely to be mistaken for 
Warblers which in habit, size, and general coloration they resemble. 
The bills, however, are stouter, more strongly arched on the oilmen, 
higher for the width, and more evidently hooked and notched at the 
tip. The Yellow-breasted Ghat (Figure 300, page 328) has a bill that 
might answer this description in outline, but it is neither hooked nor 
notched. 
Field Marks. In addition to specific markings, which form the 
best guide to species, the Vireos can be recognized by their warbler-like 
habits but slower and more sluggish movements, peering under leaves and gleaning from 
the branches and twigs with less activity. 
The Vireos constitute a sm'all family of treetop birds peculiar to 
America. Three genera occur in Canada, represented by six species. 
Economic Status . Economically the Vireos may be treated together 
as they are similar in their food habits. Their food consists of 91 per cent 
of insects and the remainder of fruits that are almost without exception 
wild varieties. The insects taken are among the most harmful, including 
scales and other close-lying species that no birds but the careful, close- 
peering Vireos ordinarily seek. They are among our most useful birds. 
624. Red-eyed Vireo. preacher-bird, teacher. Vireosylva olivacea. L, 6-23. 
Plate LXVI B. Of the size of a small Sparrow. White below, dull greenish olive above, 
with a grey crown, and decided white eyebrow stripe. Sexes alike. 
Distinctions. The Red-eyed may be distinguished from other Vireos by its superior 
size, lack of yellow, the grey confined to the crown, and the white eyebrow-line bordered 
with dark both above and below. The iris is red, but this can be seen only on very close 
examination. 
Field Marks. The markings of the face of the Red-eye make the best field mark. 
The white eyebrow bordered with darker colour and the lower line through the eye can 
usually be seen as the bird peers through the leaves at the intruder. 
Nesting. Suspended from between the forks of a small branch 5 to 15 feet above the 
ground in pensile nest or hanging-cup, woven of strips of bark, dead-wood fibres, paper, 
plant down, or birch-bark, lined with fine materials. 
Distribution. North and South America. In Canada, north to Mackenzie valley, 
west to Vancouver island. 
The Red-eyed Vireo is one of the commonest frequenters of our groves 
and woods. Its song, a leisurely repetition of slight variants of the same 
phrase with pauses between, and continued ad libitum , can be heard in 
the treetops almost anywhere in Canada and has given the species the 
name of Preacher-bird. 
Figure 277 
Notched bill of 
Vireo ( Red- 
eyed); natural 
size. 
626. Philadelphia Vireo. Vireosylva philadelphica. L, 4-75. Almost exactly 
similar in size, form, and coloration to the Warbling Vireo (Plate LXVII A), but more 
g enerally suffused with yellow on the 
reast, flanks, and underparts. 
Directions. The Philadelphia is 
likely to be mistaken only for the 
Warbling Vireo, but is yellower below 
and can always be separated by the 
first visible primary being nearly as 
long as the next (Figure 278), instead 
of being reduced to rudimentary con- 
ditions (compare with Figure 279). 
Field Marks. In life it looks like a Warbling Vireo with unusually yellow under- 
parts. The light superciliary stripe is usually a little stronger than in that species, and 
may, at times, suggest the head of a small Red-eyed Vireo. 
Figure 278 
Underwing surface of Philadelphia Vireo, first 
primary long; natural size. 
