476 



THE BIRDS OF MAINE 



obtained at Job's Island, September 13, 1883, (Howe, J. M. 0. S. 1900, p. 31). 

 Washington; rare, (Boardman). 



Migration dates for this species are rare, the earliest at hand 

 is Mr. Sweet's for May twenty-first at Phillips, while the latest 

 is September thirteenth, Howe; but it is very probable that the 

 species arrives slightly earlier and tarries considerably later 

 with us. It is at present to be called very rare and locally 

 distributed, but future search will doubtless show that it breeds 

 regularly and perhaps even commonly about the ponds and 

 lakes of northern and eastern Maine. The birds I saw at Rowe 

 Pond and at Fort Kent were doubtless breeding and in all 

 probability at the time seen in these places, early July, had 

 young in the vicinity. The birds attracted my attention in 

 each case by singing, and though the song was almost exactly 

 like that of the Red-eyed Vireo there seemed to be something 

 indescribable in it that drew attention, perhaps it was a differ- 

 ence only of my imagination, but there often comes to all of us 

 a peculiar subtle telepathic feeling that there is something odd, 

 rare or interesting in the vicinity which should be looked up. 

 I could not see that they acted different in any way from the 

 Red-eyed Vireos, feeding and singing alternately in the same 

 leisurely manner. The distinctive yellow under parts were 

 sufficient to prove the identity once the birds were seen. 



The best description we have of the nesting habits, including 

 description of nest and eggs is given by Mr. Brewster in The 

 Auk, 1903, p. 369 et seq. He found a nest at Lake Umbagog, 

 Maine, on June 14. The male bird was on the nest and sing- 

 ing at the time, and in searching to locate the songster the nest 

 was discovered with the bird singing on it. The nest was in a 

 poplar tree (^Populus tremuloides) fully thirty feet from the 

 ground near a road which ran through second growth poplars 

 and birches. The nest is described as hung, usual Vireo fashion, 

 in a fork between two diverging horizontal twigs and firmly 

 bound to both. The nest measured three inches in length, two 

 and three-quarters in width and two and sixty-five hundredths 



