BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 367 



he might escape me, I asked him in "collector's dialect" to 

 come down, and he responded so quickly that his throat must 

 have been full of notes on his coming. 



Any attempt to describe his song by letter, syllables or by 

 words would be idle, but it was a most exquisite, clear, liquid 

 utterance of a rather brief strain, often repeated, the very soul 

 of bird-song. Little pellets of sound transformed into a 

 mystery of song. In every instance in which I have heard it, 

 I have more deeply regretted the impossibility of fixing it in 

 expressible characters. It is eminently a bird of the forest, 

 and so far as I have been able to ascertain, seldom if ever 

 sings except quite early in the morning, or very near sunset 

 at evening. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 



No spurious quill; the first and fourth equal. From bill to 

 middle of back, sides of head, neck and fore part of breast 

 olive green; beneath from bill to middle of belly, with a ring 

 around the eye, sulphur yellow, lores dusky; rest of under 

 parts white; of upper ashy blue, tinged with green. Two 

 white bands on the wing; tertiaries edged with white, other 

 quills with greenish; outer tail feathers edged with yellowish 

 white; the outer web of first feather entirely of this color, ex- 

 cept near the end. 



Length, 6.00; wing, 3.20. 



Habitat, eastern United States, south in winter to Costa 

 Rica. 



VIREO SOLITARIITS (Wilson). (629.) 



BLUE-HEADED VIREO. 



Some years the Solitary Vireo is quite common in migration, 

 but there have been others when none were observed after the 

 most careful scrutiny of its favorite migratory haunts. 



The first individual that ever fell under my notice was ob- 

 tained by Mr. George McMullen of Minneapolis, on the 11th 

 of May, 1876. Within five days following I met with many 

 and secured several skins. They remained but a short time 

 when they seemed to move further northward, yet I cannot 

 help thinking a few remained in the forests near by, or did not 

 go much farther northward to breed. I am led to this impres- 

 sion by their conjugal manners while under my observation. 

 They were far from shy or solitary in their habits, indeed were 

 exceptionally tame and unsuspicious. I have found them 

 usually in the tamarack groves near the streams or lakes, 

 and actively engaged in feeding. I know nothing of their 



