6 
Brewster on the Philadelphia Vireo. 
on one or two occasions, heard the male, when in pursuit of his 
mate, utter a soft p.seuo, similar to that sometimes used by Vireo 
olivaceus, and both sexes when excited or angry have a harsh, petu- 
lant note exactly like that of V. gilvus. 
Although in the breeding season the species under consideration 
seems to be generally distributed throughout the wmoded 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 roadsides ; 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 w r ere 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 w r ere 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 by no means uncommon on these occasions to find such tree- 
