. News from the birds . able. THE VIEEOS. Very interesting birds are the vireos, andI am sure you will like them if you once learnto know them. Perhaps before you see theirflitting forms you will hear them singing inthe willows or maples, and then you may haveto look a long while before your eye catchesthem. The chief reason why they are so hardto see in the trees is that their colors are vari-ous shades of olive, and therefore closely re-semble the green of the leaves, especially whenthe sun gilds them. There are various kinds of vireos in thiscountry—the warbling, red-eyed, white-eyed,Philad
. News from the birds . able. THE VIEEOS. Very interesting birds are the vireos, andI am sure you will like them if you once learnto know them. Perhaps before you see theirflitting forms you will hear them singing inthe willows or maples, and then you may haveto look a long while before your eye catchesthem. The chief reason why they are so hardto see in the trees is that their colors are vari-ous shades of olive, and therefore closely re-semble the green of the leaves, especially whenthe sun gilds them. There are various kinds of vireos in thiscountry—the warbling, red-eyed, white-eyed,Philadelphia, blue-headed, yellow-throated, andseveral others. All of them build their nestsafter the same general pattern; that is, theyare fastened by the rim to a branch and are notsupported at the bottom—a little basket swing-ing from a bough, making a dainty hammockfor the mother bird and her brood. The warbling vireo is a familiar little bird,often choosing the trees about a farmhouse 10 121 122 NEWS FROM THE Vireo (vireo belli). for a nestingplace. Onesummer Ifound a nestwith severallittle ones init suspend-ed from thebranches of an apple tree not more than threerods from a friends house. By climbing tothe top of a stepladder I could peep intothe rocking cradle, and see the fuzzy babieswithin. But the parents did not in the leastfancy my making so free with their nest. Theycalled and scolded and screamed as only vireoscan, and even dashed at me, snapping theirbills savagely in my face. The nest wasfastened by the rim in the fork of a limb, THE VIREOS. 123 and was bound to the twigs over halfwayround. What a musician the warbling vireo is!He does not sing a little run and then stop fora few moments, as the sparrows do, but keepsup an incessant flow of song-talk often for hours,scarcely pausing long enough to take breath orswallow an insect. It sounds as if the birdwere talking to himself in a tuneful way onsome theme that did not require very profoundthought. You ha
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