OF NEW ENGLAND. 159 



bling Vireo, says that " its voice is not strong, and many birds 

 excel it in brilliancy of execution ; but not one of them all 

 can rival the tenderness and softness of the liquid strains of 

 this modest vocalist. Not born ' to waste its sweetness on the 

 desert air,' the warbling vireo forsakes the depths of the wood- 

 land for the park and orchard and shady street, where it glides 

 through the foliage of the tallest trees, the unseen messenger 

 of rest and peace to the busy, dusty haunts of men." 



(E) PHiLADELPHicus. {BrotJierly-love Vireo.) Philadel- 

 phia Vireo. 



(a). This vireo, if a distinct species, differs from Vireo gil- 

 vus (d) in a doubtful technicality only. Dr. Cones pronounces 

 it "almost indistinguishable from gilvus, except by absence of 

 spurious quill," and saj's that the colors of the latter species 

 are "precisely" the same. Is it not doubtful if one feather 

 among hundreds (though, perhaps, an important one) can 

 characterize a bird as more than a variety ? 



(b). (d). I suppose that the nest, eggs, and song of this 

 bird are essentially the same as those of the Warbling Vireo. 



(c). The Philadelphia Vireo is probably a migrant through 

 Massachusetts, having been obtained at Philadelphia, also in 

 Maine, and at Moose Factory (to the southward of Hudson's 

 Bay and James Bay). I have never seen it here, so far as I 

 know, nor have I seen any specimens shot here. I have no 

 observations to make upon its habits, which I suppose to cor- 

 respond closely to those of its immediate relations. I have 

 since learned that this bird has been obtained in this State. 

 Mr. Brewster, in the "Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological 

 Club," says: "On Sept. 7th, 1875, I shot a female of this 

 beautiful little species in Cambridge, Mass. It was feeding in 

 company with several individuals of Vireo olivaceus, in a low 

 willow tree." 



In a more recent number, Mr. Ruthven Deane says that 

 several specimens have been obtained in Maine, both in June 

 and September, and that the Philadelphia Vireos may be con- 

 sidered summer-residents about Lake Umbagog. 



