290 PHILADELPHIA VIREO. 
about by the blasts, which flouted the leaves and swung the whole tree-top through 
the air; yet he hardly paused a moment in his strain, though his voice was at times 
nearly drowned by the rushing wind. » 
“Contrary to what might be expected from the apparently close relationship of 
the two birds, the song of this species does not in the least resemble that of Vireo 
gilvus, It is, on the other hand, so nearly identical with that of the Red-eye that the 
most critical ear will, in many cases, find great difficulty in distinguishing between the two. 
The notes of V. philadelphicus are generally pitched a little higher in the scale, while 
many of the utterances are feebler, and the whole strain is a trifle more disconnected. 
But these differences are of a very subtile character, and, like most comparative ones, 
they are not to be depended upon unless the two species can be heard together. The 
Philadelphia Vireo has, however, one note which seems to be peculiarly its own, a very 
abrupt, double-syllabled utterance, with a rising inflection, which comes in with the 
general song at irregular but not infrequent intervals. I have also, 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, petulant note exactly like that of the Warbling Vireo. 
“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 sprung up in the clearings and over old burnt lands. 
Its favorite haunts are the coppices of wild-cherry and gray birches by road-sides; 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 Vireosylvia 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 deferred than with any other New England 
species, excepting, perhaps, V. solitarius. 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 found 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 average nest 
of Vireo olivaceus, being rather more like that of Vireo noveboracensis. 
“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. 
