Page:Bird-lore Vol 04.djvu/146

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How to Name the Birds I25

Sang—VVhile not great musicians, the Vireos are pleasing singers. "In the quaint and curious ditty of the \Vhitereye—in the earnest, Voluble strains of the Red-eye—in the tender secret that the Warbling Vireo confides in whispers to the passing breeze—he is insensible who does not hear the echo of thoughts he never clothes in words.”~—COL‘ES.

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Rangeihke the Vireos, the Warblers are exclusively American birds, ranging from the fur coulr tries to Argentina. About one hun» dred species are known, of which ‘ ty reach the United States, thirty- eight of this number being found east of the Mississippi,

SFflMII.‘Lll(6 all our strictly insectivutous birds. \Varblers are highly migratory. Only one species occurs in temperate latitudes dur- ing the season of heavy frosts, and this, the Myrtle Warbler, becomes for a time a fruit-eater, subsisting ‘on the berries of the myrtle or baybetryi The migration of War- blers begins in early April with the coming of the Palm Warbler. and in the fall is not concluded until the same species takes its deparr ture. about November 1.

Color. —Olive 7 green above, whitish or yellow below, with white wing-bars and tail-patches, and conspicuous yellow or black mark- ings, describes the characteristic coloring of most Warblers. but so widely do they vary in color that no one type can be made to stand for the group. As with many