PHILADELPHIA VIREO 135 



though repeated in the height of the breeding season more 

 than four thousand times a day, never varies perceptibly. 

 The song of the Eed-eye is made up of short phrases of 

 almost endless variety. Beginners often have great diffi- 

 culty in distinguishing the song of the Warbling Vireo from 

 that of the Purple Finch. The song of the Finch is ex- 

 tremely rapid and .energetic ; the Vireo's is deliberate and 

 languid compared with the burst of melody that the Finch 

 utters. The Warbling Vireo, after a period of silence in 

 August, sings again in September, but only for a short time, 

 early each morning. Both sexes have a querulous call-note, 

 which suggests the mew of the Catbird. 



If seen at close range, the Warbling Vireo may be dis- 

 tinguished from the B;ed-eye by the different appearance of 

 the side of the head ; there is no darh streak through the 

 eye, nor is the light line over the eye bordered above by a 

 black line. From the following species it may be distin- 

 guished by the absence of a yellowish tinge on the throat 

 and breast. 



Philadelphia Vieeo. Vireo philadelphicus 

 4.75 



Ad. — Upper parts grayish, tinged with green in strong light; 

 top of head clear gray; cheek gray; a whitish line over eye; under 

 parts distinctly but not strongly tinged with yellow. 



Nest and eggs, like those of the Red-eyed Vireo, but slightly 

 smaller. 



The Philadelphia Vireo breeds from northern New Eng- 

 land northward, and in most of New York and New Eng- 

 land occurs only as a very rare migrant, generally in Sep- 

 tember or early October. In northeastern Maine, in the 

 vicinity of Lake Umbagog, and at Dixville Notch, N. H., it 

 is not uncommon. Here it frequents the thin growth of 

 poplar and bird-cherry in clearings and along roadsides 

 rather than the deeper woods. A male sang constantly in 



