THE TANAGKR8.* 



The Tanagers live on berries, insects, and smiiU grains ; they seek their food in 

 thickets, among brushwood, on plants and trees, many of them hoi)ping about on all the 

 branches, in search of insects. Most of them are remarkable for the richness and 

 brilliancy of tlieir colours ; accordingly M. d'Azara gives them a Spanish name expressive 

 of this attribute, Lindo, which, both in Italian and Spanish, means spruce, neat, 

 elegant. 



As we find it to be frequently the case in the feathered kingdom, this external beauty 

 is not accompanied by any corresponding melody or power of voice : very few indeed of 

 the tanagers possess agreeable notes. Their movements are rapid and abrupt, their 

 flight lively, and their natural disposition active. They rarely descend to the earth, and 

 when they do, instead of walking, they proceed by jumps. 



Some frequent the interior of large forests, where they are attiactcd by certain berries 

 of which they are extremely fond. Others .usually sojourn on the borders of woods, and 

 others on the dry grounds, where they conceal themselves in bushes and briars ; others 

 again prefer the summits of trees, and many visit rural habitations, where they frequent 

 the gardens and the meadows. Such sijecies love the society of their fellows, and unite 

 in flocks more or less numerous ; others live in families, some in pairs, and some even 

 solitarily. The tanagers, stationed in the torrid zone, hatch at difterent seasons ; but 

 they lay a smaller number of eggs than the natives of temperate climates. 



America is the countrj' of the tanagers ; and the greater number of species are found 

 in the equinoctial part of that vast continent. The Ibrni of the bill is somewhat conical, 

 but inflated at the sides, the edge of the upper mandible being irregular, as if slightly 

 toothed. 



THE SCARLET TAN.iOER.f 



"Among all other birds," says Wilson, "that inhabit our woods, there is none that 

 strikes the eye of a stranger, or even a native, with so much brilliancy as this. Seen 

 among the green leaves, \^dth the light foiling strongly on his plumage, he really appears 

 beautiful. If he has little melody in his notes to charm us, he has nothing in tliena to 

 disgust. His manners arc modest, easy, and inoffensive ; he commits no depredations 

 on the property of the husbandman, but rather benefits him by the daily destruction in 

 spring of many noxious insects ; and when winter approaches he is no plundering 

 dependent, but seeks in a distant country for that sustenance which the severity of the 

 season denies to his industry in this. He is a striking ornament to our rural scenery, 

 and none of the meanest of our rural .songsters. Such being the true traits of his 

 character, we shall always with pleasure welcome this beautiful inoffensive stranger to 

 our orchards, groves, and forests." In length the Scarlet Tanager is six inches and a 

 half; the tail is forked. 



■niK TANAGRA LAYANA. 



The TuiKUjra Cai/aiia, called IhiupliiiiDix, by tlie ercoh'S of Cayeinie, is very eonmion in 

 that country. It inhabits open places, approaeli is llic habitations, and lives on fruits. 

 It destroys the bananas and gayavas in great quaulities; it also carries devastation into 

 the rice-fields in tlie period of tjicir maturity. It is only, in fart, in tin- rice-grounds 

 that these birds unite in any numbers; for, ordinarily, iliey are seen only iu couples. 

 They have no song or inodulalion of voice, and generally utter but a sliort cry. 

 • Taiitigni. t Tumif^ni Tntus. 



