Birds of Allegany Park 305 



Blue-headed Vireo. Lanivireo solitarius solitarius (Wils.) 



This bird, slightly smaller than the English Sparrow, is easily dis- 

 tinguished from the other Vireos by the blue-gray head, white mark 

 from the bill around the eye, yellowish sides, and wing bars. 



It is well distributed in the maple-beech forests of the Park, but 

 not common anywhere. It seems to be more certain to occur in the 

 few areas of large old trees than in second growth forest. It lives 

 in the tree-tops like the other vireos, where it is difficult to see but 

 easily heard. 



The song of this bird is of the same general form as those of the 

 Red-eyed and Yellow-throated Vireos, but distinguishable to a good 

 ear. The phrases are less variable and numerous than the Red-eye's, 

 but they are sweeter and less monotonous in quality. In fact, in 

 sweetness of quality this Vireo is the best singer of its family. 

 The phrases are from two to five notes each, a little slower than 

 those of the Red-eye, and often ending in a sweet soft-toned, slurred 

 note almost like the voice of the Bluebird. The bird lover will find 

 greater pleasure in the song of this vireo than in any of the others. 



The nest of this bird is placed in a tree and is similar to those 

 of other vireos. The birds are often quite tame when incubating 

 their eggs and allow a close approach. 



Purple Finch. Carpodacus pur parens purpureas (Gmel.) 



This bird is about the size of the English Sparrow. The male is 

 bright crimson pink on the head and lower back, and lighter pink 

 on the breast. The wings, tail and upper back are brown. The 

 female is brown, with a prominent broad cream colored stripe over 

 the eye, cream colored wing bars, and a gray breast, streaked with 

 brown. The female might be mistaken for the female of the Rose- 

 breasted Grosbeak in the field, but the larger size and heavier bill 

 of the Grosbeak should separate them. 



The Purple Finch is not common in the Park, but occurs in small 

 numbers both in the forest and along the stream valleys. Birds 

 were seen in the hills back of Salamanca, in the lower Red House 

 Valley about Tunesassa (Quaker Bridge) and on Limestone Brook. 

 The bird lives in the tree-tops, getting most of its food among the 

 twigs and terminal branches of the trees. 



The song of the male is a sweet warble, varying greatly in indi- 

 viduals. It resembles the song of the Warbling Vireo, but is less 

 regular in time and more inclined to contain short phrases of two 

 or three notes repeated several times. The birds have a short call 

 note which sounds like " pink," and is characteristic enough to be 

 used as a means of identification when well known. 



The nest is said to be placed in an evergreen, but the Park birds 

 seem to show no great preference for such trees. I suspect that 

 the nest misrht also be found in broad-leaf trees along the stream 

 valleys in this locality. 



