An Interesting Solitary Vireo ( Vireo solitarius ). — On April 2S, 1903, a 
male Solitary Vireo appeared in our garden ; this, although situated in a 
thickly settled part of Cambridge, more than a mile from the nearest 
woods, covers upwards of an acre of ground and contains, in addition to 
much dense shrubbery, a number of well-grown trees of various kinds, 
including a few pines, spruces and hemlocks. The bird evidently found 
the place to his liking, for he remained there during the whole of the 
following three months, spending most of his time in the garden but 
also ranging through the cultivated grounds which surround the houses 
of our nearer neighbors. So far as we could ascertain he had no mate, 
although it is possible that he built a nest, for on one occasion late in 
June he was seen tearing strips of loose bark from a birch and taking 
them intq the trees on the opposite side of the street. 
That so notorious a forest lover as the Solitary Vireo should ever 
choose for his summer home a city garden, however wild and primitive, 
is sufficiently remarkable, but a still more interesting characteristic of 
this particular bird was that he had two perfectly distinct songs, one 
typically that of his own species, the other absolutely indistinguishable 
from that of the Yellow-throated Vireo. These, although used with 
about equal frequency, were never confused or intermingled. He would 
sing one for minutes at a time and then take up the other for a longer or 
shorter period. Not once when I was listening to him did he interpolate 
any of the notes of either strain among those of the other, nor ever 
change from one to the other save after a well marked interval of silence- 
To the ear of the listener, in short, he was either a Solitary or a Yellow- 
throat, as the mood happened to serve, but never both in the same breath. 
When rendering his own legitimate theme this bird was as typical and 
fine a singer as any Solitary that I have ever heard. Indeed, he appeared 
gifted to a really exceptional degree with the wild, ringing quality of voice, 
the generous repertory of varied, exquisitely modulated notes, and the 
(at times) rapid, ecstatic delivery which combine to make the song of the 
Solitary so delightful to all discriminating lovers of bird music. But 
when, on the other hand, he chose to play the r6le of his yellow-throated 
cousin he reproduced with equal fidelity and success the latter’s character- 
istically slow, measured delivery and rich contralto voice. So perfect, 
indeed, was the imitation that when, as repeatedly happened, 1 had 
opportunity for directly comparing it with the song of a true Yellow- 
throated Vireo that also frequented the garden, I was unable to detect any 
differences whatever in the notes of the two birds. 
It may be well to add in this connection that Mr. Walter Faxon has 
heard one Yellow-throated Vireo (in Waltham, Massachusetts) and I 
another (in Lancaster, Massachusetts) which sang almost exactly like a 
Solitary Vireo i in both of these instances, however, the bird, unlike the 
^Solitary above mentioned, appeared to use only the song which it had 
borrowed from its near relative and to have either lost or never acquired 
that of its own species. — William Brewster, Cambridge , Mass. 
Auk, XX, Oct., l©08, p.V37-^3S- 
V S -ftarom X . 
Lanivireo solitarius solitarius. Solitary Vireo. Saw a singing bird 
at fairly close range on April IT, 1908, in Stoughton. Saw another singing 
bird in Sharon on October 12, 1907. 
Auk 23 , 
Apr~lVO& ,p, /??■ 
