104 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



Courtesy oi Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 



RED-EYED VIREO (nat. size! 

 He has the manners of a pubUc speake 



PHILADELPHIA VIREO 

 Vireosylva philadelphica Casshi 



A. <>. U. Number Oj 



Other Names. — Philadelphia Greenlet ; Brotherly- 

 love Vireo. 



General Description. — Length, 5 inches. Upper 

 parts, grayish-green : under parts, yellowish. 



Color. — Crown, plain niouse-.E;ray ; hindneck, back, 

 shoulders, rump, and upper tail-coverts, l>lain f/rayish 

 olivc-grccn : wings and tail, dark brownish-gray or 

 hair-brown with light olive-greenish edgings, these 

 broader and more grayish on greater wing-coverts ; 

 lesser and middle wing-coverts, olive-gray; a distinct 

 stripe of dull whitish over the eye; a triangular mark 

 of dusky-gray on the lores and a .streak of the same 

 color behind the eye; ear and cheek regions, pale 



.^ce Color I'l.ite 91 



olive, becoming paler (sometimes whitish) beneath eye; 

 under parts, mostly dull sulpliur or primrose-yellow, 

 the chin and abdomen whitish, the yellow deepest on 

 chest; under wing-coverts, pale primrose-yellow; bill, 

 dark horn color ; iris, brown ; legs and feet, bluish-gray. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest; In fork of willow or other 

 tree, like rest of the genus. Eggs: 4, similar in size 

 and markings to Red-eyed Vireo. 



Distribution. — Eastern North America ; breeds from 

 northern and central Alberta, northern Manitoba, 

 northern Ontario, New Brunswick, and Maine to 

 northern Michigan and New Hampshire; winters from 

 Cozumel Island and Guatemala to Veragua. 



In its habits, and especially in its character- 

 istic song, the Philadelphia Vireo resembles his 

 mtich commoner relative, the Red-eye, which, 

 however, is mtich the more persistent singer of 

 the two. Mr. Brewster notes that " the Philadel- 

 phia Vireo has, however, one note which seems 

 to be peculiarly its own, a very abrupt, double- 

 svllabled utterance with a rising inflection, which 



comes in with the general song at irregular but 

 not infrequent intervals." The popular name 

 " Brotherly-love Vireo " is, of course, in refer- 

 ence to the use of the name Philadelphia, rather 

 than in recognition of any marked degree of 

 brotherly love displayed by the bird. The bird 

 was discovered by Cassin, near Philadelphia, who 

 named it in honor of that city. 



