THE SCARLET TAN ACER. 261 



horizontal bough of some pretty good sized tree, anywhere 

 from ten to thirty feet from the ground; oftener near the 

 latter height, though I have pulled down the limb and 

 looked into the nest. A frail fabric, indeed, is this nest. 

 Begun w^ith small twigSj stalks of weeds, strips of bark, 

 with a very little wool or down, perhaps, and lined with fine 

 rootlets or very fine dried spray of some evergreen (in this 

 locality generally the hemlock), the whole being somewhat 

 shallow, and very raggedly woven; one may almost count 

 the eggs from beneath. These, three or four, laid here late 

 in May, are .90 X .65 of an inch, delicate light-green, specked 

 or heavily spotted with reddish-brown. This nest is often 

 imposed upon by the Cow Blackbird. I once found one 

 containing four of these eggs, and but two of the Tanager's; 

 the former being in various stages of incubation, while the 

 latter were nearly fresh. 



Wilson relates a beautiful incident concerning the parental 

 affection of the Tanager. He says: "Passing through an 

 orchard one morning I caught one of these young birds that 

 had but lately left the nest. I carried it with me about half 

 a mile to show it to my friend, Mr. William Bartram; and, 

 having procured a cage, hung it up in one of the large pine 

 trees in the botanic garden, within a few feet of the nest of 

 an Orchard Oriole, which also contained young, hopeful 

 that the charity or tenderness of the Orioles would induce 

 them to supply the cravings of the stranger. But charity 

 with them, as with too many of the human race, began and 

 ended at home. The poor orphan was altogether neglected, 

 notwithstanding its plaintive cries; and, as it refused to be 

 fed by me, I was about to return it back to the place where 

 I found it, when, towards the afternoon, a Scarlet Tanager, 

 no doubt its own parent, was seen fluttering round the cage, 

 endeavoring to get in. Finding this impracticable, he flew 



