VIKEONID^— THE VIREOS. 183 



Vireo philadelphicus (Cass.) 



PHILADELPHIA VIREO. 

 Popular synonyms. Pliiladelphiii Crreenlet: Brotherly- love Vireo. 

 Vireosylvia philadelphica Cass. Proo. Phil. Ac. 1851.153, pi. 10, fig. 2.— Baird, Review. 1806. 

 340. -B. B. & R. Hist. N. Am. B. 1, 1874, 3G7, pi. 17, llg. 4.— KiDQW. Nom. N. Am. B. 

 1882. No. 13S. 

 Vireo philadetphicus Baibd, B. N. Am. 1858, 335; ed. 1860. pi. 78, fig. 3; Cat. N. Am. B. 

 1859, No. 244.— CouES.Key, 1872, 120; Checit List, 1873, No. 124; 2d od. 1882, No. 173; B. 

 N. W. 1874, 97; B. Col. Val. 1878, 192. 



Hab. Eastern North America, cliiefly west of the Alleghanies, north to "Fur Coun- 

 tries;" breeding chiefly north of the United States, and wintering in Central America 

 (Guatemala to Costa Rica). Not recorded from Mexico or West Indies. 



"Sp. Char. (No. 20.643 male.) Above dark olive-green, tinged with plumbeous ash, ex- 

 cept on the rump; top of head and nape purer plumbeous asli. not edged with duslcy.the 

 line of demarcation indistinct. Beneath ight sulphur-yellow, piiler and almost white on 

 chin and middle of abdomen: sides more olivaceous. A whitish stripe from billove- 

 eye, as also a patch beneath it and the eyehds. A dusky loral and post-ocular spot. 

 Quills and rectriees brown, edged externally with olive, internally with whitish; the 

 larger coverts with paler outer edges. Bill blackish, paler plumbeous below. Legs 

 plumbeous. Spurious outer or first quill (seen in gilvus) wanting: the outer about equal 

 to fifth; third longest; second and fourth not much shorter. Total length, 4.80; wing, 

 2.65; tail. 2.25. 



"Specimens vary somewhat in purity of tints, and especially in 

 intensity of yellow of under parts, which color is deeper in autumnal 

 skins." {Hist. N. Am. B.) 



The Philadelphia Vu'eo is a common, or in some seasons abun- 

 dant, migrant, but owing to its plain colors may very easily be over- 

 looked, or mistaken for some species of warbler. It is probable 

 that this species breeds in the northern portion of the State; at 

 least this probability is strongly suggested by the following state- 

 ment, quoted from Mr. Nelson's hst (pp. 102, 103) : 



"A common migrant; May 15th and 25th, and September 5th to 

 25th. While passing in the spring these birds frequent either wil- 

 low thickets or high woods. They were so numerous near Wauke- 

 gan about the 20th of May, 1876, that a dozen specimens might 

 have been obtained in an hour. The first of July, 1874, I found 

 two pairs of these birds in a dense willow thicket bordering Mazon 

 Creek, about sizty miles south of Chicago. Upon my approach the 

 birds showed great anxiety, uttering a short complaining cry, and 

 coming within a few feet of me. That they had young in the 



