TANAGERS 381 



eastern United States from Canada and Manitoba south to the Tennessee 

 Mountains, and from the Atlantic west to the Plains ; casually or occa- 

 sionally to Colorado and Wyoming ; winters in the West Indies, eastern 

 Mexico, Central America, and south to northern South America ; accidental 

 in Bermuda. 



.\est. On a horizontal branch, 10 to 30 feet from the ground, a flat, 

 loose structure, made of stems and plant fibers, lined with fibers and root- 

 lets. Eggs : 3 to 5, essentially like those of the summer tanager. 



Food. Insects and wild berries. 



The songs of the tanagers have a strong resemblance, but their 

 call-notes are very different. That of the scarlet tanager is a dis- 

 tinctly enunciated chip-churr, and so unique that it will identify him 

 when his glowing scarlet body and black wings and tail are hidden 

 in the greenery. 



609. Piranga hepatica Swains. HEPATIC TANAGER. 



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

 in spring and sum vier : under parts scarlet, brownish on sides; ear cov- 

 erts brownish, with white shaft streaks ; crown bright red ; rest of upper 

 parts dull red ; back and scapulars tinged with grayish brown ; lower man- 

 dible bluish gray in life. Adult female in spring and summer : upper parts 

 olive green, grayer on back ; under parts olive yellow, darker on sides. 

 Adult male in fall and winter : back and scapulars more brownish gray; 

 red of under parts duller, some of the feathers with paler tips. Adult fe- 

 male in fall and winter: like summer female, but brighter. Young, nest- 

 ling plumage : streaked, on grayish olive above, pale buffy below ; wings 

 with buffy bars. Male : length (skins) 6.90-7.80, wing 3.96-4.13, tail 3.12- 

 3.37. bUl.66-.73. Female: length (skins) 6.90-7.74, wing 3.85-3.99, tail 

 2.94-.3.:U, bill .07-.71. 



Remarks. - - The hepatic tanager may be distinguished from the Cooper 

 by its dull grayish red back and the scarlet tone of its under parts, com- 

 pared with the nearly uniform coloration and rose pink tones of the Cooper. 

 Its gray cheeks are a good field character. The males are three years in 

 acquiring the brilliant adult plumage, and breed in a mixture of the red 

 and yellow of their parents. 



Distribution. From southwestern Texas, southern New Mexico, and 

 Arizona south to Guatemala. 



^Xest. On low oak branches, a slight structure made of coarse rootlets 

 and dried plant stems, lined with finer materials. Eggs : 3 or 4, very pale 

 bluish green, lightly spotted chiefly around larger end with browns and 

 purples. 



In the wooded bottom of the Pecos River canyon, near where the 

 river flows into the Rio Grande, we found the hepatic tanager in 

 May, evidently at home and established for the summer. Its song, 

 strikingly like that of the scarlet tanager, rang out so loud that 

 across the river it seemed to be close at hand. The call was a single 

 note. 



In the Guadalupe Mountains, New Mexico, we found the beauti- 

 ful bird quite common in the oaks and pines on the edge of the 

 Transition zone, at about 6700 feet, especially on the rocky wooded 

 hillsides. 



