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THE YELLOW-THROATED VIREO, OR GREENLET. 
ViREO FLAVIFRONS, Vicill. 
PLATE OCXXXYIIL— Male. 
While the small White-eyed Vireo rambles among the low bushes and. 
brambles of the fields of all parts of the United States, the Yellow-throated 
species takes possession of the forest, and gleans with equal ease among the 
branches of the tallest trees, to which it seems to give a marked preference 
during the spring and summer. It is fond of the quietest solitudes, and in 
its habits is nearly allied to the Red-eyed Yireo. Like it also, it is a slow, 
careful, and industrious bird, never imitating the petulant, infantile, and 
original (if I may so speak) freaks of its gay relative, the White-eyed. It 
is more silent than either of the species above mentioned, although its notes 
have a strong resemblance to those of the Red-eyed. These notes are more 
measured and plaintive than those of any of its tribe, sometimes consisting 
of sounds resembling the syllables pree-a, pree-a, rising and falling in sweet 
modulation. One might imagine them the notes of a bird lost in the woods, 
and they make a strong impression on the mind of the listener. Now and 
then the sight of his mate seems to animate the male, when he repeats the 
same syllables eight or ten times in succession. When sitting pensively on 
a twig, as if waiting for an invitation to sing, it utters a kind of whining 
sound, and in autumn, as well as during its retrograde march towards the 
south, it becomes quite silent. 
When searching for food, it ascends the branches of trees by regular short 
hops, examining with care every leaf and bud in its way, never leaving a 
branch for another until it is quite assured that nothing remains on it. 
When flying to some distance, its motions, although quick, are irregular, 
and it passes among the boughs at a moderate height. 
This species is at all times extremely rare in Louisiana, where I have seen 
it only during early spring or late in the autumn. My friend Bachman 
has never observed it in South Carolina. Indeed, it is only from Penn- 
sylvania eastward that it is met with in any quantity. During summer it 
feeds entirely on insects, devouring with equal pleasure caterpillars, small 
moths, wasps, and wild bees. The summer over, it ranges among the low 
bushes in search of berries, accompanied by its young, and at that time 
enters the orchards and gardens even of our villages and cities. It arrives 
