468 GRANIVOROUS BIRDS. 



apprehension. When they are released from her more 

 immediate protection, the male, at first cautious and dis- 

 tant, now attends and feeds them with activity, being 

 altooether indifferent to that concealment which his 

 gaudy dress seems to require, from his natural enemies. 

 So attached to his now interesting brood is the Scarlet 

 Tanager, that he has been known, at all hazards, to fol- 

 low for half a mile one of his young, submitting to feed 

 it attentively through the bars of a cage, and, with a 

 devotion which despair could not damp, roost by it in 

 the branches of the same tree with its prison ; so strong, 

 indeed, is this innate and heroic feeling, that life itself 

 is less cherished than the desire of aiding and supporting 

 his endearing progeny. 



The food of the Scarlet Tanager, while with us, con- 

 sists chiefly of winged insects, wasps, hornets, and wild 

 bees, as well as smaller kinds of beetles and other shelly 

 tribes ; they probably also sometimes feed on seeds, and 

 are particularly partial to whortleberries, and other kinds 

 which the season affords. 



About the commencement of August the male begins to 

 moult, and then exchanges his nuptial scarlet for the 

 greenish yellow livery of the female. At this period they 

 leave us, and having passed the winter in the celibacy 

 indicated by this humble garb, they arrive again among 

 us on its vernal renewal, and so soon after this change, 

 that individuals are at this time occasionally seen with 

 the speckled livery of early autumn, or with a confused 

 mixture of green and scarlet feathers in scattered patches. 



The length of this species is about 6^ inches ; and 10.^ in alar di- 

 mensions. The plumage of the male is of a brilliant scarlet, except 

 the wings and tail, which are black. The tail is forked, and some- 

 times minutely tipt with white ; the inner edges of the quills are also 

 nearly white. Bill yellowish horn-color. Legs and feet bluish-grey. 

 Iris cream-color. — The female is more green above than the autum- 

 nal male. 



