478 THE BIRDS OF MAINE 



It is preeminently a species of the rows of trees along city 

 streets and country highways, and less often in the fringe of 

 trees along rivers away from civilization. In general they 

 arrive from the south about May twentieth, occasionally as 

 early as May tenth, according to Mr. Brown, and depart in 

 late August or early September, latest September fifteenth, 

 which is exceptional. 



The song is characteristic, vivacious and a rich, continuous 

 warble with an undertone prevailing throughout as if the singer 

 were trying to give the song with variations, and is distinctly 

 difterent from any of the other Vireo songs I have heard, differ- 

 ent from the song of the Purple Finch but to be compared to 

 it rather than to the songs of other Vireos. It is uttered from 

 the tops of the taller trees and the birds are heard oftener than 

 seen. 



A typical nest in my collection measures two and four-fifths 

 inches in height externally by one and three-fifths internally 

 while its diameter is three outside by two inside. It was 

 suspended from a forked limb, Vireo style, sixty feet from the 

 ground. The eggs are white, rather sparsely speckled with 

 black, brown and umber, chiefly about the larger end. They 

 measure 0.78 x 0.55, 0.73 x 0.53, 0.76 x 0.54. Three or four 

 are usually laid from the second week in June to the last of 

 the month with us. The nests are situated from twenty to 

 seventy feet from the ground, on an average of above thirty 

 feet. They are built of bits of shreddy bark, soft silken 

 vegetable fibers, held together by cobwebs and lined with dry 

 grass or hair. 



The food consists of the general run of insects found in the 

 trees inhabited by the birds and consequently they are very 

 beneficial. The male bird does his share of the incubating 

 and frequently sings while on the nest. 



