LAND BIRDS. 569 



of various kinds, being particularly fond of the berries of the spice bush or 

 benzoin and of sassafras. It also eats raspberries, blackberries, wild 

 cherries, viburnum, and a great variety of other fruits, but these usually 

 in small quantities, and so far as we know, never of cultivated varieties. 

 The bird may be said to have absolutely no bad habits and to confer marked 

 and continuous benefits on the horticulturist and farmer. 



TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 



Bill slightly hooked at tip; rictal bristles evident; no spurious first primary; no wing-bars. 



Adult (sexes alike): Top of head ashy-gray; rest of upper parts olive-green, this color 

 edging all the wing and tail-feathers and coverts; a whitish stripe from nostril over eye, 

 bordered above by a more or less distinct narrow dark line; lores dark gray or dusky and 

 this color sometimes continued as a more or less distinct stripe behind the eye; ear-coverts 

 and sides of head buffy-gray, changing to grayish-olive on sides of neck and along sides 

 of breast and body; rest of under parts pure white, usually washed with buffy on under 

 tail-coverts; wings and tail plain dusky, without bars or spots; bill brownish above, yellowish 

 below; iris red. 



Length 5.50 to 6.50 inches; wing ;^.10 to 3.;^0; tail 3.15 to 3.30; culmen .50 to .55. 



256. Philadelphia Vireo. Vireosylva philadelphica Cassin. (626) 



Synonyms: Philadelphia, (ireenlet, Brotherly-love Vireo. — Vireosylvia philadelphica, 

 Cassin, 1851.— Vireo i)liihuleli)liicus, Baird, 1858, A. O. U. Check-list, 1886, and most 

 authors. 



The decidedly smaller size and distinct yellowish tinge below serve 

 perfectly to separate this bird from the Red-eyed Vireo, which it resembles 

 in the lack of wing bars and the absence of a spurious first primary. The 

 iris, however, is brown, not red. 



Distribution. — Eastern North America, north to Hudson Bay; south 

 in winter to Costa Rica and Panama. Breeds from Maine, New Hampshire 

 and Manitoba northward. 



This is one of our rarest vireos, though probably more numerous than 

 our observations would seem to show. It occurs mainly if not entirely 

 as a migrant, but our records are too few to enable us to do more than 

 indicate the approximate time of its arrival and departure. We have 

 records of about twenty-five specimens taken in various parts of the state, 

 the majority in the fall. Mr. Trombley records one at Petersburg, May 

 4, 1897, and two specimens were taken at the Agricultural College on May 9, 

 the same year. Mr. Eddy took a male on the 17th of May, 1897, in Bay 

 county, and S. E. White took two specimens at Grand Rapids, Mich., on 

 May 15 and 24, 1890. A specimen was killed on Spectacle Reef Light, 

 May 25, 1892. Our earliest record in the fall is from Mackinac Island 

 August 6, 1899, when S. E. White secured a specimen. He obtained 

 another on August 7, 1890, and saw two more on September 6 of the same 

 year. Mr. Swales took a specimen at St. Clair August 28, 1896, and J. 

 ('laire Wood took specimens in Wayne county, September 3, 10 and 24, 

 1905. Specimens were also taken by T. L. Hankinson at Hillsdale May 

 13, 1896, and in Ingham county September 14, 1895. Dr. Gibbs records a 

 specimen taken at Kalamazoo May 23, 1882, and another taken in Ottawa 

 county in May 1879, by W. A. Gunn. This last specimen, identified by 

 Ridgway, is probably the first record for the state. One was taken at 

 Ann Arbor May 30, 1907 (Wood), and one near Detroit September 27, 

 1908 (Taverner); it was recorded also from Isle Royalc, Lake Supeiior 

 September 1, 1904 aiul September 12. 1905 (Peet). 



