306 BULLETIN 19 7, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



gards tliese vireos is exactly paralleled by slate-colored and Carolina 

 juncos, and by black-throated blue and Cairns's warblers ; in each case 

 the southern birds are supposed to just reach the Pennsylvania border, 

 where they are met by their northern relatives. It happens that all 

 three species are abundant in the moimtains on both sides of the line, 

 and it is obvious that no sharp limits between the races can be defined ; 

 there is constant meeting and interbreeding." 



I have sometimes been criticized because we have not attempted in 

 this series of bulletins to outline accurately the ranges of the sub- 

 species; the above remarks illustrate very clearly the futility of trying 

 to do so in nearly all cases ; in only a few isolated instances can this 

 be done satisfactorily. 



The summer range of the mountain vireo in the regions roughly out- 

 lined above extends from about 1,200 feet above sea level in the valleys 

 to over 6,000 feet on mountain summits. In winter it retires from 

 the mountains and lives in the lowlands of South Carolina, Georgia, 

 and northern and central Florida. 



William Brewster (1886) described and named this subspecies from 

 specimens collected in Macon County, N. C. He says : 



This new form may be easily distinguished from soUtariiis by its larger size, 

 heavier bill, and different color of the upper parts. In solita7-ius the crown and 

 sides of the head are clear, pure ash, in strong contrast with the olive green of the 

 back and rump, whereas in alticola the entire upper parts are nearly uniform 

 blackish-plumbeous, with only a faint tinge of greenish on the back, which is 

 essentially concolor with the crown. In these respects the bird resembles V. 

 plumhcihs, but its coloring above is darker and dingier, its sides strongly yellow- 

 ish as in solitarius. * * * 



Throughout the elevated plateau occupying the southeastern corner of ISIacon 

 County, this new Vireo was one of the most abundant forest birds. It was found 

 exclusively in open oak and chestnut woods, where its ringing voice, mingling 

 with the rich music of the equally numerous Grosbeaks (Hahia ludoviciana) and 

 Scarlet Tanagers {Piranga eryihromclas), was rarely still oven at noontide. 



Professor Brooks says in his notes: "Mountain vireos are character- 

 istic and abundant birds of the southern highlands, found from the 

 zone of spruce and balsam down to elevations of 1,200 or 1,500 feet in 

 the mountain valleys. I have not fovind them at corresponding eleva- 

 tions away from the mountains, however; the common name seems 

 abundantly justified." 



Bruce P. Tyler (MS.) tells me where he finds this vireo in eastern 

 Tennessee : "With us the ideal home of the mountain vireo is Shady 

 Valley, in Johnson County, Tenn. This lovely valley is located be- 

 tween Holston and Iron Mountains. The floor of the valley is 3,000 

 to 2,500 feet elevation, decreasing as it departs from the upper reaches 

 of Beaver Dam Creek and extends to 'Back Bone Rock' near Mock's 

 Mill, about 10 miles as the crow flies. The valley is flanked by moun- 

 tains with ultimate elevations approacliing 4,000 feet; and, beyond 

 Iron Mountain, we have White Top and Mount Rodgers, with eleva- 



