PHILADELPHIA VIREO. 291 
by no means uncommon on these occasions to find such tree-loving species as the Bay- 
breasted, Cape May, Blackburnian, and Blue Yellow-backed Warblers, the Red-bellied 
‘Nuthatch, the Golden-crested Kinglet, and many others, consorting with Winter Wrens, 
Water Thrushes, and Canada Flycatchers in the thickets by wood paths, or along the 
banks of ponds or rivers; and I know of no more interesting sight, especially if it be a 
bright September morning, before the sun has risen above the trees. The dark foliage 
of the alders and viburnums is frosted with innumerable dew drops, which fall in spark- 
ling showers where a Warbler hops or a Woodpecker taps on the slender stems. Yellow 
and gold and scarlet liveries flash among the glossy leaves, as the active little forms 
appear and disappear, while the constant rustling and low-toned conversational chirping 
from the depths of the thicket suggest all sorts of pleasing mysteries. It is a pretty 
picture, this gathering of the birds in the quiet depths of the forest, with the tall spires 
of sentinel-like firs and spruces keeping guard against the sky, and the incessant rasping 
of the wood-borers, —nature’s time keepers, —counting the hours of the crumbling trunks 
around.” 
In Sheboygan Co., Wis., this Vireo doubtless breeds, but I was unable to find its 
nest. Probably the majority breed north of the United States. Near Duck Mountain, 
Manitoba, Mr. Ernest Thompson found a nest. of this bird, containing four eggs, on 
June 9, 1884. It was built in a forked twig of a willow, which was scant in foliage, 
as it grew in the shade of a poplar grove. It was about eight feet from the ground, 
pensile as is usual with all Vireos, and was formed of grass and birch bark. The eggs 
presented no obvious difference from those of the Red-eye. 
NAMES: PuitapELpuia Vireo, Brotherly-love Vireo, Philadelphia Greenlet. 
SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Vireosylvia philadelphica Cass. (1851). VIREO PHILADELPHICUS Bro. (1858). 
DESCRIPTION: ‘Above, dull olive-green, brightening on the rump, fading insensibly into ashy on the 
crown, which is not bordered with blackish; a dull white supraciliary line; below, palest possible 
yellowish, whitening on throat and belly, slightly olive-shaded on sides; sometimes a slight creamy 
or buff shade throughout the under-parts; no obvious wing-bars; no evident spurious first primary. 
The latter character distinguishes the species from Vireo gilvus, which it most resembles in color. 
“About 5.00 inches long; wing, 2.70; tail, 2.25 inches.” (Stearns & Coues, ‘‘New England Bird 
Life,” I, p. 197.) 
