TANAGERS 379 



FAMILY TANAGRIDJE: TANAGERS. 



GENUS PIRANGA. 



General Characters. Bill straight, stout, conoidal ; nostrils exposed ; 

 rictal bristles well developed ; wing of nine primaries lengthened and 

 pointed ; tail shorter than wings, emarginate ; tarsus not longer than mid- 

 dle toe. scaled. 



KEY TO ADULT MALES IN SPRING. 



1. Upper mandible with a tooth-like projection on cutting 

 edge. 



2. Plumage marked with black. Flg - 4G7 ' 



3. Plumage scarlet and black erythromelas, p. 380. 



3'. Plumage red, black, and yellow .... ludoviciana, p. 379. 



2'. Plumage not marked with black ; red, with grayish back and 

 brownish ear coverts hepatica, p. 381. 



-O 



fc -3 



1'. Upper mandible without tooth-like projection. 



Fig. 468. 



2. Under parts vermilion or poppy red rubra, p. 382. 



2'. Under parts rose pink cooperi, p. 382. 



607. Piranga ludoviciana (Wils.). LOUISIANA TANAGER: WEST- 

 ERN TANAGER. 



Upper mandible with a tooth-like projection on cutting edge. Adult 

 male in summer : head and neck bright orange or red ; rest of under 

 parts bright yellow ; upper parts black, with yellow rump and wing 

 patches. Adult female in summer: upper parts olive green, back and 

 scapulars grayish ; wing bars dull yellowish ; under parts pale grayish 

 yellow, becoming sulphur yellow on under tail coverts ; anterior part of 

 head sometimes tinged with red. Adult male in winter : like summer 

 female, but with head yellow or slightly tinged with red, more or less 

 obscured on occiput and hind neck with olive green or dusky tips to 

 feathers ; feathers of back usually more or less distinctly edged with yel- 

 lowish olive ; tertials broadly tipped with white or pale yellow ; tail feath- 

 ers more or less tipped with white. Young male in first autumn : like adult 

 female, but clearer yellow below and rump yellower. Young female in 

 Jirst autumn: like adult female, but duller; upper parts more brownish 

 olive, under parts washed with brownish olive ; wing bars narrower, and 

 huffy. Young m ale, Jirst plum age : upper parts olive green ; wings black- 

 ish, with yellow wing bars ; tail with outer webs of feathers edged with 

 olive green ; throat and chest grayish, chest tinged with yellow and 

 streaked ; chin and under tail coverts yellow ; rest of under parts white. 

 Male : length (skins) 6.20-6.95, wing 3.71-3.83. tail 2.64-2.98, bill .57-62. 

 Female : length (skins) 6.30-6.90. wing 3.54-3.88, tail 2.68-2.89, bill .53- 

 .63. 



Distribution. Breeds in Canadian zone in mountains from British 

 Columbia to Arizona, and from northwestern Nebraska to California ; 

 straggles eastward in migration to the Atlantic states ; winters south to 

 Guatemala. 



