TANAGRIDyE — THE TA^'AGERS. 443 



This species is said by Mr. Sahin to enjoy an almost universal range 

 throughout Guatemala. It occurred in December at the mouth of the llio 

 Dulce, in the pine ridges near Quisigua, and along the wlinh- mad lioui I.sa- 

 bel to Guatemala, a distance of eighty leagues. 



Mr. 0. W. Wyatt met with these birds also, in all varieties of plumage, 

 throughout Colombia, South America, at Herradura, Cocuta Valley, and 

 Canta. Mr. Boucard oljtaincd them at Plaza Mcente, Me.xico. Dr. Wood- 

 house observed this species tliroughout the Indian Territory, Texas, and New 

 Mexico, where it seemed solitary in its habits, frequenting the thick scrubby 

 timber. It has been known to breed at various points in Florida, Georgia 

 South Carolina, Louisiana, and Texas. To the northward it breeds more or 

 less abundantly, as far as Washington, D. C, on the east, and Southern Illi- 

 nois and Kansas on the west, being much more common in the Mississippi 

 Valley than in the States on the Atlantic in the same parallel of latitude. 



Mr. Dresser found it C[uite common about San Antonio, Texas, during the 

 summer season, arriving there about the middle of April, which is just about 

 the period at which the three specimens were taken near Boston. It is com- 

 paratively rare in Penn.sylvauia, though abundant in thg southern counties 

 of New Jersey, and in Delaware, Eastern Maryland, and Virginia. It is 

 also abundant in the Carolina.s, in Georgia, Florida, and the Gulf States. 



Wilson, in deseriliiug tlie ne.st and eggs of this species, has evidently con- 

 founded ihem and some of their habits with those of the Blue Grosbeak. 

 Their eggs are not light-blue, nor are the nests, so far as I know, as described 

 by him. Audubon and Nuttall copy substantially his errors. 



The food of this species during the spring and early summer is chiefly 

 various kinds of large coleopterous insects, bees, wasps, and others. Later in 

 the season, when whortleberries are ripe, they feed chiefly on these and other 

 small fruit. In taking its food it rarely alights on the ground, but prefers to 

 capture its insects while on the wing. 



The usual note of this bird, which Mr. Audubon pronounces unmusical, 

 resendiles the sounds " r/ncki/-chucl\i/-ch/id:" The same writer states that dur- 

 ing the spring this bird sings pleasantly for nearly half an hour in succession, 

 that its song resembles that of the Red-eyed Vireo, and that its notes are 

 sweeter and more varied and nearly equal to those of the Orchard Oriole. 



The late Dr. Gerhardt of Varnell's Station, in Northern Georgia, informed 

 me that these birds are quite common in that section of country. Tlie nest 

 is usually built on one of the lower limbs of a post-oak, or in a pine sapling, 

 at a height of from six to twenty feet. They are usually constructed toward 

 the extremity of the limb, and so far from the trunk as to be very difficult of 

 access. They are generally built from the middle to the end of May. The 

 eggs are four in number. 



In Southern Illinois, according to Mr. Piidgway, the Summer Piedbird 

 arrives about the 20th of April, staying until the last of September. It is 

 more abundant than the Scarlet Tanager, and much less retiring in its habits. 



