264 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



subsists chiefly on insects, which he captures on the wing, or secures 

 while gleaning among the branches and leaves. In the late summer 

 and autumn months he feeds, more or less, on raspberries, mulberries, 

 pokeberries and wild grapes. His white shirt-front is often soiled with 

 the bright juices of the fruits on which he feeds. 



Vireo philadelphicus (CASS.). 



Philadelphia Vireo. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Length about 4.90 ; extent 8| ; tail 2| ; wing 2jj ; tarsus about. 64 ; bill, along culmen, 

 .40. Very similar to gilvus, but bill is smaller and not nearly so stout as in latter 

 bird ; no spurious primary as in gilvus ; chin and belly white, rest of lower parts 

 pale sulphur-yellow, brighest on throat and breast ; above dull olive-green, grayish- 

 blue on crown with faint greenish tint ; rump brighter than back ; white line from 

 base of maxilla over eye ; indistinct whitish spot below eye ; blackish spot in front 

 of eye. 



Habitat. Eastern North America, breeding chiefly north of United States north 

 to Hudson's Bay ; south, in winter, to Costa Rica. 



The Philadelphia Yireo is a regular but rather rare spring and fall 

 migrant, arriving here late in April or early in May, and after the 20th 

 of May it is seldom seen in Pennsylvania until it migrates southward in 

 September. Prof. August Kock, of Williamsport, informs me that he 

 is under the impression that this bird breeds occasionally in the mount- 

 ainous regions of Lycoming county ; and Mr. T. L. Neff gives it in his 

 list as a probable breeder in Cumberland county. This bird is found 

 generally in woods about the borders of streams. The Philadelphia 

 Vireo, although similar to the Warbling, can be recognized from the 

 latter by its usually brighter under parts, and although it has a resem- 

 blance to the White-eyed species, it has not, like the last named, whitish 

 wing bars. Its song is very much the same as that of olivaceus. 



Vireo gilvus (VIEILL.). 



Warbling Vireo. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Length about 5 ; extent about 9 ; wing 2? ; tail 2.20 ; tarsus .69 ; bill stout, very 

 much like a Red-eyed Vireo, and from back part of nostril to end along culmen 

 about .50 ; similar in color to philadelphicus, but upper parts are more grayish and 

 paler ; general color of lower parts white ; sides, flanks and under tail-coverts, and 

 part of breast tinged with pale-yellow ; the spurious first quill measures about five- 

 eighths of an inch in length. 



Habitat. North America in general, from the Fur countries to Mexico. 



The Warbling Vireo is found in Pennsylvania as a common summer 

 resident from the last week in April until late in September ; in the 

 southern part of the state I have taken specimens as late as October 10. 

 This delightful songster is rarely seen or heard in the depths of the 



