6 Brewstee on the Philadelphia Vireo. 



on one or two occasions, heard the male, when in pursuit of his 

 mate, utter a soft pseuo, similar to that sometimes used by Vireo 

 olivaceus, and both sexes when excited or angry have a harsh, petu- 

 lant note exactly like that of V. gilvus. 



Although in the breeding season the species under consideration 

 seems to be generally distributed throughout the wooded region 

 about Umbagog, it occurs less commonly in the heavily timbered 

 portions. As upon its first arrival, it chiefly affects the younger 

 growths which have spriuig up in the clearings and over old burnt 

 lands. Its favorite haunts are the coppices of wild-cherry and 

 gray birches by roadsides ; rocky knolls tufted with black and 

 yellow birches ; the various small trees and tall shrubs that fringe 

 the wood-edges ; and deserted farms, where cool groves of vigorous 

 young paper-birches and glaucous-foliaged poplars are grouped over 

 the neglected acres, with intervals of sunny opening between. 

 But wherever found, like most of the members of the Vireosyhia 

 group, it makes its home in the tops and upper branches of the 

 trees, rather than in the thickets beneath. 



The breeding season is probably longer defeiTcd than with any 

 other New England species, excepting, perhaps, V. soUtarius. At 

 least the males were not in full song before June 10, and even at 

 that date they were not generally mated. 



My utmost efforts to discover the nest failed. Some old ones, 

 which were hung in the usual manner near the extremity of birch 

 or poplar limbs, may have originally belonged to this species, as 

 several specimens of the birds were foTind in the grove, and no 

 other Vireo seemed to be breeding near. The only one of these 

 structures which I took pains to examine closely was somewhat 

 smaller and deeper than the avei'age nest of Vireo olivaceus, being 

 rather more like that of Viy-eo novehoracensis. 



At the close of the breeding season, when the brakes are turning 

 brown, and occasional maples along the lake shore begin to glow with 

 the burning tints of autumn, the Philadelphia Vireos join those 

 great congregations of mingled Warblers, Sparrows, Woodpeckers, 

 Titmice, etc., which at this season go trooping through the Maine 

 woods. The specimens taken at Upton, in 1874, were in flocks of 

 this kind, and several of them were shot in low bushes, an apparent 

 exception to the rule previously given. But mixed society among 

 birds, as well as men, is a great leveller of individual traits, and it 

 is by no means uncommon on these occasions to find such tree- 



