Tanager WESTERN BIRDS 



Still another western species is found in northwestern 

 Arizona, northeastern New Mexico, and western Texas, 

 south, and is called the Hepatic Tanager (Piranga 

 hepatica). The gray cheeks of this bird distinguish it 

 from the Cooper, the back also having more gray and 

 the under parts less of the rose pink than cooperi. 



GENUS PIRANGA: WESTERN TAN- 

 AGER. 



Western Tanager: Piranga ludoviciana. 

 FAMILY— TANAGERS. 



The Western Tanager is similar to his red cousin in 

 everything but plumage. To my mind he is even hand- 

 somer, though quite different. His head and neck are a 

 beautiful bright red ; fore back, tail and wings black, the 

 latter with two yellowish bars ; the rump and under parts 

 are a bright lemon yellow. The female is similar to the 

 eastern one save that she has wing bars. The male in 

 winter plumage resembles the female save that he may 

 have some red on the head and the back more yellow. 

 The young resemble the female. The length is about 

 seven inches. 



These birds, which are also known as Crimson-headed 

 or Louisiana, breed from southwestern South Dakota 

 and the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains to the 

 Pacific Coast and north of the United States, wintering 

 southward from central Mexico, and being sometimes 

 seen in the New England States during migration. 



They like the high altitudes, nestling in firs, pines, 

 and live oaks from ten to fifty feet from the ground, 

 and going as high in the mountains as ten thousand feet. 



The nest, like that of the eastern bird, is shallow and 

 placed near the end of the branch. The female, only, 



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