350 THE GENUS PYRANGA 



Genus PYRANGA VieiUot 



Tanagra, In part, of early authors. 



Plranga, YkiUot, OAS. i. 1807, p. iv.—Gray, Handlist, ii. 1870, 60, n. 1731. 



Prranga, Tidllot, "Analyse, 1816, 32".— F. Gal. Ois. i. 1834, 111.— ScJ. PZS. 1856, 123.— 



Bd. BNA. 1858, 300.— B. B. <£■ R. NAB. i. 1874, 432. 

 Phoenisoma, Sw. Class. B. ii. 1837, 284. 

 Phtenisoma, Bp. 

 Phoenicosoma, Gab. " Arch. f. Katurg. xiii. 1847, 316 " ; Mas. Hein. i. 1850, 24. 



Chars. — Bill stout, turgid, conoidal, usually notched at the 

 tip, and with one or more deuticulations of the cutting edge of 

 the upper mandible near the middle of the commissure. Rictal 

 bristles well developed. Nostrils basal, the frontal antise 

 reaching them. Wings lengthened and pointed, the first four 

 feathers subequal and longest. Tail moderate in length, shorter 

 than the wings, slightly forked, but nearly even. Tarsus not 

 longer than the middle toe ; lateral toes about equal, the outer 

 coherent with the middle by nearly all of the length of its basal 

 joint. Sexes more or less unlike in color ; red usually prevail- 

 ing in the male sex. Habits migratory, insectivorous, arboreal ; 

 voice not musical. Eggs spotted (as far as known). 



Four species of this beautiful genus inhabit the United States, 

 three of them representing as many of the sections into which the 

 genus is divisible according to pattern of coloration. Numerous 

 others are found in the warmer parts of America. These birds 

 have been specially studied of late by Mr.Kobert Ridgway,* who 

 has analyzed their characters — more particularly those of the 

 group which includes P. cestiva — with his usual discrimination. 



One of the best known of these birds is the Scarlet Tanager, 

 Pj/raw^a rM&ra,t whose encrimsoned body, contrasting with wings 



* On the Uniformly Red Species of Pyranga, with Description of a New North 

 American Species or Variety Icooperi"]. <. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. June, 

 1869, pp. 129-133. See also the excellent schedule of the whole genus, by 

 the same talented writer, in the History of North American Birds, vol. i. pp. 

 432, 435 (1874). 



t Pyranga rnbra.— Scarlet Tanagper. 



Tanagra rubra, L. SN. i. 1766, 314, n. 3 (from Oardinalis canadensis Briss. iii. 48, pi. 2, f. 5).— 

 Bodd. Tabl. PE. 1783, 10, pi. 156, f. l.-Gm. SN. i. pt. ii. 1788, 889, n. 3.— Lath. 10. i. 1790, 

 420, n. X—Turt. SN. i. 1806, 545— IFiis. AO. ii. 1810, 42, pi. 11, f. 3, A.—Bp. Journ. Phila. 

 Acad. iv. 1824, 53.— Pp. Ann. Lye. N. T. ii. 1826, 105.— Foa;, Newc. Mus. 1827, 158.— 

 Less. Tr. Orn. 1831, 465.— 2V^m«. Man. i. 1832, 465.— Awd. OB. iv. 1838, 388, pi. 354, f, 3. 4.— 

 Peah. Eep. Orn. Mass. 1839, iX^.—Thomps. Vermont, 1853, App. 24.— iJcad, Pr. Phila. 

 Acad. vi. 1853. 400. 



Pyranga rubra, 7. "OAS. i. 1807, p. iv. pi. l, f. 12 (head)".— S. £ R. FBA. ii. 1831, 273, 

 &g.—Jard. ed. Wils. 1. 1832, 192.— Bp. CGL. 1838, 35.— Z)'Or&. Ois. Cuba, 1839, -id.—Aud. 

 Syn. 1839, I3fi.— JLMd. B. Atner. iii. 1841, 226, pi. 209.— Gos«e, B. Jam. 1847, 235.— Gtr. 

 BLI. 1844, 135.— Bp.CA.i. 1850,241.— TFoodA. Rep. Zuiii R. 1853, 82.— I7oj/, Pr. Phila. 

 Acad. vi. 1653, 383 (Wisconsin).— iienmc. Tr. Illinois Agric. Soc. i. 1855, 585. — Pratten, 

 ibid. 605.— Scl. PZS. 1855, 156 (Bogotd) ; 1856, 123 (synonymy, &c.).—Putn. Pr. Ess. 

 Inst. i. 1856, 212.— iTas/m. Pr. Phila. Acad. viii. 1856, 292 (Indiana).— jraa;iOT. J. f. O. vi. 

 1858, 210..— Scl. PZS. 1858, 73 (Rio Napo, Ecuador).— Bd. BNA. 1858, 30.— Willis, 



