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Yellow-Throated Vireo

The home of the Yellow-throated Vireo is usually swung from the fork of a branch ranging from ten to forty feet above ground, while that of the Red-eyed species is usually found less than ten feet up. The nests of the two species are constructed so nearly alike that they cannot be distinguished from one another positively, but the eggs of the present species have a very few, small reddish-brown spots while those on the eggs of Red-eye are black.

The song of the Yellow-throated Vireo is very different from that of the Red-eye, although anyone would readily recognize it as that of some sort of a vireo. It is lower in pitch, the tones are not clear, there being a distinct undertone, the song is more deliberate and the pauses much longer; he is very apt, too, to break off into a chatter in the midst of his song.

The two young vireos of this species, that are pictured here, were so unfortunate as to be blown from their cradle, swinging forty feet up in an oak tree, by a very high wind. They happened to fall without injury and were so good as to allow us to take their portraits. We also made several of the mother bird feeding these, but none of them came out satisfactorily because of the gale that caused tent and camera to vibrate and nearly blew the feathers off the birds. It is my only attempt at picturing these birds, but good results should be secured under favorable circumstances, as both the young and the adults were very tractable.