74 
BULLETIN OF THE NUTTALL 
The Philadelphia Yireo in New England. — The increase and de- 
crease of certain species in given localities is becoming a subject of much 
interest, instances of which are cited every year. A single specimen may 
be captured in a locality far from the usual habitat of its species, where it 
may not be seen again for years, or it may gradiially'increase and later be 
found as a regular autumn migrant, though not detected in the spring, and 
vice versa. The above-named species was first given as a New England 
bird by Prof. Charles E. Hamlin, based upon a specimen which he cap- 
tured at Waterville, Me., May 21, 1863. For the next nine years it escaped 
the notice of our collectors, when during a collecting trip at the ITmbagog 
Lake, Maine, I procured a specimen on June 3, 1872, and on the follow- 
ing day, in company with Mr. Wni. Brewster, obtained two more. In a 
communication from Geo. A. Boardman, Esq., he states that on June 2, 
1872, he obtained a female at Calais, Me., the only one, however, which 
he has met with. We did not hear of the Vireo again until Sej)tember, 
1874, when Mr. Brewster took six specimens at Lake Umbagog. On 
September 11, 1875, I procured a female at the foot of Bipogenus Lake, a 
beautiful sheet of water situated about one hundred and fifty miles north- 
east from the Umbagog Lake, and observed two others. There was an 
immense migration of Warblers, Sparrows, and other species on that morn- 
ing, and the specimen taken was in company with the Red-eyed and Yel- 
low-throated Vireos.* 
All these specimens were undoubtedly on or near their breeding-grounds, 
and although but few pass through the coast States, yet it is strange that 
the species should have escaped the notice of the many watchful collectors 
of the present day until Mr. Brewster procured a specimen in Cambridge, 
Mass., on September 7, 1875 (see Bulletin No. 1, p. 19). Three specimens 
were taken during the first week of June, 1876, at Lake Umbagog, in 
which locality it now must be considered as a summer resident. — 
Ruthven Deane. 
Geographical Variation in the Number and Size of the Eggs op 
Birds. — It is not surprising that the now well-known law of geographi- 
cal variation in size among birds should find expression in the eggs of 
birds as well as in the birds themselves. I have only recently, however, 
met with satisfactory proof of the fact, for which proof I am indebted to 
the kindness of Captain Charles Bendire, U. S. A. Under date of May 
21 (1876), Captain Bendire wrote me as follows : “ The geographical vari- 
ation in size among North American birds holds true also in respect to 
* This is the most northern locality in Maine at which I have known the Yel- 
low-throated Yireo to occur. . 
