Birds -- United States; Natural history -- Outdoor books
Still keeping among the unrecognized, the white-eyed vireo, or
fly-catcher, deserves particular mention. The song of this bird is not
particularly sweet and soft; on the contrary, it is a little hard and
shrill, like that of the indigo-bird or oriole; but for brightness,
volubility, execution, and power of imitation, he is unsurpassed by
any of our northern birds. His ordinary note is forcible and emphatic,
but, as stated, not especially musical: _Chick-a-re'r-chick_, he seems
to say, hiding himself in the low, dense undergrowth, and eluding your
most vigilant search, as if playing some part in a game. But in July
or August, if you are on good terms with the sylvan deities, you may
listen to a far more rare and artistic performance. Your first
impression will be that that cluster of azalea, or that clump of
swamp-huckleberry, conceals three or four different songsters, each
vying with the others to lead the chorus. Such a medley of notes,
snatched from half the songsters of the field and forest, and uttered
with the utmost clearness and rapidity, I am sure you cannot hear
short of the haunts of the genuine mocking-bird. If not fully and
accurately repeated, there are at least suggested the notes of the
robin, wren, cat-bird, high-hole, goldfinch, and song-sparrow. The
_pip, pip_, of the last is produced so accurately that I verily
believe it would deceive the bird herself;--and the whole uttered in
such rapid succession that it seems as if the movement that gives the
concluding note of one strain must form the first note of the next.
The effect is very rich, and, to my ear, entirely unique. The
performer is very careful not to reveal himself in the mean time; yet
there is a conscious air about the strain that impresses me with the
idea that my presence is understood and my attention courted. A tone
of pride and glee, and, occasionally, of bantering jocoseness, is
discernible. I believe it is only rarely, and when he is sure of his
audience, that he displays his parts in this manner. You are to look
for him, not in tall trees or deep forests, but in low, dense
shrubbery about wet places, where there are plenty of gnats and
mosquitoes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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