35(3 BULLETIN 19 7, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Among the many attractive bits of nature writing from the pen of 

 that gifted writer, Mr. Brewster's (1880) account of this vireo at 

 Umbagog Lake, Maine, is one of his best : 



The Philadelphia Vireos usually arrive at Umbagog during the last week of 

 May, or, if the season be a late one, in early June. They come with the last 

 flight of Warblers, when the forest trees are putting on a drapery of tender 

 green, and the moose-wood is white with snowy blossoms. They are most apt 

 to be found singly at this season, though they not infrequently associate with 

 the various species of Warblers. For some time after their first appearance 

 they are severely silent, and, although by no means shy or suspicious, their 

 habits are so retiring and unobtrusive, that their presence may be easily over- 

 looked. Their motions are essentially like those of all the rest of the genus. 

 A branch shakes, and you catch a glimpse of a pale lemon breast that matches 

 well with the tint of the thin foliage. Tlien the whole bird appears, hopping 

 slowly out along the limb, and deliberately peering on every side in that near- 

 sighted way peculiar to the tribe. Occasionally its search among the unfolding 

 leaves in rewarded by the discovery of some luckless measuring-worm, which 

 is swallowed with the same indifference that marks all the bird's movements. 

 Ton begin to feel that nothing can disturb the equanimity of the little philosopher, 

 when it suddenly launches out into the sunshine, and, with an adroit turn, 

 captures a flying insect invisible to human eyes. The next moment there is a 

 dim impression of glancing wings among the trees, and it has vanished. There 

 is little chance of finding it again, for its voice has as yet no place in the chorus 

 that rises from the budding thickets around. 



Nesting. — Evidently Ernest T. Seton (1891) was the first to report 

 the discovery of the nest of the Philadelphia vireo, which he found 

 on the west slope of Duck Moimtain in Manitoba; his report follows: 

 "On June 9, 1884, near Fort Pelly, on the upper Assiniboine I found 

 a Vireo nesting in a small bluff of poplar and willow. The chosen 

 site was in the twigs of a willow some 10 feet from the ground ; the 

 nest was the usual suspended cup formed of fine grass and strips of 

 birch bark. * * * Qn June 13, the Vireo began to sit on her four 

 eggs. I shot her and found her to correspond exactly with Coues' 

 description of fhiladelphicus^ except that the yellow on the breast 

 was quite bright. The eggs closely resembled those of the Red-eyed 

 Vireo, but were destroyed by an unfortunate accident before they 

 were accurately measured." 



Although Mr. Brewster (1903) had been more or less familiar with 

 this vireo in the Lake Umbagog region since 18T2, it was not until 

 June 14, 1903, that he succeeded in finding its nest. He describes the 

 incident in his inimitable way and gives one of the best descriptions 

 of the nest and its location that I have seen. He had been listening 

 to the song of a vireo, wliich he suspected might be a Pliiladelphia ; 

 it was concealed in the top of an aspen (Populus tremuloides) , and he 

 was gathering stones to throw into the tree to make it move, when it 

 occurred to him that some vireos sing on their nests. He writes : 



This reflection caused me to drop the stones and begin looking for a nest 

 instead of a bird. A few moments later I saw, through an opening in the 



