Vireo flavifrons
Order Passeriformes
Family Vireonidae
Adult.— Head and upper back greenish-yellow in strong light; rest of back gray; wing-bars white; throat and breast bright yellow.
Nest, a cup hung from a twig, from ten to twenty-five feet above the ground.
Eggs, white, spotted with brown at the larger end.
The Yellow-throated Vireo is a summer resident in central and southern New York and New England; it is rare north of Massachusetts. It arrives in early May, and stays till the middle of September. Like the Warbling Vireo it prefers the shade trees in the village streets and about houses, and the tall trees along streams; in the northern part of its range it is found only along the alluvial flood plains of large rivers. After an interval of silence in August, it sings again in September, especially early in the morning, and continues to do so till its departure.
The song in form resembles those of the Red-eye and the Solitary [Blue-headed vireo], and differs from that of the Warbling Vireo. It is made up of separate phrases, one with a rising, the next with a falling inflection. The notes are louder and richer than those of the Red-eye, but generally harsher and more querulous than those of the Solitary. The phrases are separated by considerable intervals, giving the song a more leisurely character than that of the Red-eye. The male has a harsh chattering note with which he scolds intruders.
The bright yellow throat should distinguish this bird from other vireos, It resembles the Pine Warbler very closely in coloration, and during migration the two might occur in the same places. Ordinarily, however, the Vireo would rarely, if ever, be found in evergreens, and the Pine Warbler rarely away from them. The songs of the two species are very different, and on close inspection the Vireo is seen to be heavier, with a stout bill, while the Pine Warbler has a more slender bill.
Hoffmann – A Guide to the Birds of New England and Eastern New York (1904)