1 
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. The 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 secur- 
ing 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 substance. 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 
