338 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Length 7-7.3 inches; extent 11-12; wing 3.75; tail 2.7; bill .46; 



tarsus .77. 



Distribution. This tanager inhabits eastern America from Virginia 

 and Illinois to New Brunswick and Manitoba, and passes the winter in 

 Central America and northern South America. In New York it is found 

 in every county of the State, a fairly common summer resident of the 

 forested districts, but in the more cultivated portions of southern, central 

 and western New York is uncommon in summer except in swamps, large 

 groves and wooded ravines. In the Adirondacks I have noticed it as 

 high as the summit of the Bartlett ridge and the slopes of Mount Colvin 

 and the forests about St Huberts. It therefore invades the Canadian zone 

 of New York State nearly to the summits of our higher mountains. The 

 spring migration, when it is fairly common in most portions of the State, 

 begins about the 1st of May in the southern counties, the 10th to the 14th 

 in the colder districts. In the fall it disappears between the 3d and the 

 1 8th of October. 



Haunts and habits. As already intimated, the habitat of the Scarlet 

 tanager is mostly in our larger groves, forests and wooded ravines, although 

 during migration time it is frequently seen in orchards, shade trees, and 

 even in the open fields. I have seen as many as 12 or 15 male tanagers 

 in an open plowed field during the first part of May, when they are feeding 

 on May beetles and their larvae. The migration is past by the third week 

 in May, and thereafter we must seek the tanager in its woodland haunts. 



The common call note resembles the syllables " chip, churr," and his 

 ordinary song has been compared to that of the Robin, but has a decided 

 burr or buzz in its delivery. 



The females commonly arrive 5 to 7 days after the males and the 

 mating occurs from the middle to the third week in May. The nest is 

 constructed from the 23d of May to the 10th of June. Fresh eggs have 

 been found from May 28 to June 19. The nest is usually placed on a hori- 

 zontal limb at a height of 12 to 30 feet from the ground. Usually 

 a deciduous tree is chosen, like an oak, beech or maple, though I have 



