BIRDS OF KANSAS. 497 



flocks of young and old were quite unsuspicious and easily ap- 

 proached. During the breeding season we found them exceed- 

 ingly shy and difficult to procure, and were unsuccessful in our 

 efforts to discover their nests." 



Their nests are placed in depressions, sunk in the ground so 

 that the top only comes to the surface. They are rudely con- 

 structed of grasses and weeds, and lined witli fine branching 

 stemlets, and, occasionally, hairs. Eggs four or five, .80x.C6; 

 light blue; in form, oval. 



Genus PIRANGA Vieillot. 

 Bill subcouical and rather cylindrical, the culineu moderately curved, espe- 

 cially toward the tip; maxillary tomiiim distinctly notched near the tip, and often 

 with a more or less distinct tooth near the middle. Wings rather long (decidedly 

 longer than the tail); primaries nine, the four outer ones longest. Tail moder- 

 ate, distinctly emarginate; tarsus rather short (about equal to or but little longer 

 than the culmen), the middle toe shorter, or about equal to the length of the bill 

 from the nostril to the tip. Colors chiefly or partly bright red in the adult male, 

 olive-greenish above and yellowish below in the female. {Ridgway.) 



Piranga erythromelas Vieill. 



SCARLET TANAGER. 

 PLATE XXX. 



Summer resident; common in the eastern part of the State; 

 rare in the middle. I have never met with them in the western 

 portion. Arrive the last of April; begin laying about the 20th 

 of May; leave in September. 



B. 220. R. 161. C. 154. G. 81, 251. U. 608. 



Habitat. Eastern North America; north to southern Can- 

 ada and Manitoba; west to the Great Plains; south in winter to 

 West Indies, eastern Mexico, Central America and to middle 

 South America. Breeds throughout its United States range. 

 (May 14th, 1880, I saw a straggler on Brier Island, Nova 

 Scotia.) 



Sp. Char. "Bill shorter than the head. Second quill longest; first and 

 third a little shorter. Tail moderately forked. Male: Whole head and body 

 continuous pure, intense scarlet, the feathers white beneath the surface, and 

 grayish at the roots. Wings and tail, with scapulars, uniform intense black; 

 the middle coverts sometimes partly red, forming an Interrupted band. Lining 

 of wing white. A blackish tinge along sides of the rump, concealed by wings. 



