Page:Birdcraft-1897.djvu/183

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Vieos

like an over-active housewife, who accompanies every motion of her broom or flash of her needle with random advice, maxims, etc., having all active gifts, but lacking the grace of judicious silence.

Though the Vireo's pensile nests are usually built upon one plan, — a cup or little pocket in a branch fork, — you will never find two alike. Of half a dozen collected in the garden, one is of cobwebs, soft cedar bark, and white worsted; one of paper, fibres, and bits of hornets' nest; and a third is a perfect collection of scraps of all sorts.

The Red-eyed is the largest of the Vireos, and may be distinguished from the Warblers, with whom you will be apt to confuse them, by its heavier build and a slight Shrike-like hook at the point of the upper mandible.

Warbling Vireo: Vireo gilvus.

Length: 5.50-6 inches.
Male and Female: Above pale olive-green; head and neck ash; dusky line over eye. No bars on wings. Below dull yellowish; whiter on throat and belly; deeper on sides.
Song: A liquid and expressive voice, but not so powerful as the Red-eyed. Wilson Flagg gives it these words: "Brig-a-dier-Brig. a-dier-Brigate!" The song lacks the jerky, colloquial style.
Season: May to September and early October.
Breeds: Through its United States range.
Nest: Similar in construction and shape to the Red-eyed, with generally a free use of moss; in trees, usually at some height from the ground.
Eggs: Slightly smaller; otherwise not to be distinguished from the last-named species.
Range: North America in general, from the Fur Countries to Mexico.

The Warbling Vireo is a common summer resident, and a constant and delightful songster, having much more music in its voice than any other member of the family. It warbles, as its name implies, the notes rippling easily; and an air of pleasant mystery is given to the performance by the shyness that keeps the singer in the leafiest tree-tops. Plainness is the chief characteristic of the plumage of this Vireo; it has no sharply contrasting colours, no wing bars, and a

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