pproach the hemlocks through a large
sugar-bush. When twenty rods distant, I hear all along the line of the
forest the incessant warble of the Red-eyed Flycatcher (_Vireosylvia
olivacea_), cheerful and happy as the merry whistle of a schoolboy. He
is one of our most common and widely distributed birds. Approach any
forest at any hour of the day, in any kind of weather, from May to
August, in any of the Middle or Eastern districts, and the chances are
that the first note you hear will be his. Rain or shine, before noon or
after, in the deep forest or in the village grove,--when it is too hot
for the thrushes or too cold and windy for the warblers,--it is never
out of time or place for this little minstrel to indulge his cheerful
strain. In the deep wilds of the Adirondac, where few birds are seen and
fewer heard, his note was almost constantly in my ear. Always busy,
making it a point never to suspend for one moment his occupation to
indulge his musical taste, his lay is that of industry and contentment.
There is nothing plaintive or especially musical in his performance, but
the sentiment expressed is eminently that of cheerfulness. Indeed the
songs of most birds have some human significance, which, I think, is the
source of the delight we take in them. The song of the Bobolink, to me,
expresses hilarity; the Song-Sparrow's, faith; the Bluebird's, love; the
Cat-Bird's, pride; the White-eyed Fly-catcher's, self-consciousness;
that of the Hermit-Thrush, spiritual serenity; while there is something
military in the call of the Robin, and unalloyed contentment in the
warble of the Red-eyed Vireo.

This bird is classed among the flycatchers, but is much more of a
worm-eater, and has few of the traits or habits of the _Muscicapa_ or
the true _Sylvia_. He resembles somewhat the Warbling Vireo (_Vireo
gilvus_), and the two birds are often confounded by careless observers.
Both warble in the same cheerful strain, but the latter more
continuously and rapidly. The Red-Eye is a larger, slimmer bird, with a
faint bluish crown, and a light line over the eye. His movements are
peculiar. You may see him hopping among the limbs, exploring the under
side of the leaves, peering to the right and left,--now flitting a few
feet, now hopping as many,--and warbling incessantly, occasionally in a
subdued tone, which sounds from a very indefinite distance. When he has
found a worm to his liking, he turns lengthwise of the limb, and bruises
its he