480 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 



course, when on a prominent perch the bird seems to blaze with color — 

 as Frank Bolles (1891) says: "his plumage*seemed^burning among 

 the leaves." 



At the time of his arrival the chorus of bird music is a confusing 

 medley from which few voices stand out clear and separate, and as the 

 tanager's song bears to many ears more than a superficial resemblance 

 to those of some other buds, he often passes unnoticed. Yet the tana- 

 ger is a fine songster and sings freely all spring and summer long. 



Every few years in May comes a prolongedjperiod of heavy rain 

 which washes the insects from the trees and shrubs, and forces the 

 arboreal birds to feed on the ground. During these periods the hordes 

 of migrating warblers collect in the fields to seek insects among the 

 grass blades. Here the tanagers gather too, making spots of glow- 

 ing color in the open country. 



Alexander Sprunt, Jr. (1924), calls attention to the fact that 

 "although this species has been taken on the coast of South Carolina 

 on a few former occasions, * * * this record [of a bird collected on 

 one of the barrier islands of South Carolina] is of interest in that no 

 specimen, heretofore, has been taken on any coast island, or in such 

 close proximity to the ocean." 



Audubon (1841) stresses the same point. He says: "My friend Dr. 

 Bachman informs me that they are seldom met with in the maritime 

 districts of South Carolina; and that there they follow the mountain 

 range as it were for a guide." 



Francis M. Weston (MS) writes: "The scarlet tanager is a regular 

 and somewhat abundant spring migrant through the Pensacola region. 

 Occurrence is usually restricted to the latter half of April, but, in the 

 course of 30 years of observation, I have noted tanagers as early as 

 April 5, 1937, and as late as May 15, 1940. As with other trans-Gulf 

 migrants, their abundance on this coast is conditioned by the weather. 

 In seasons when long spells of clear weather offer no obstacle to 

 passage across this region, few tanagers are seen; in seasons when spells 

 of rain, heavy fog, or strong northerly winds interfere with the north- 

 ward flight, incoming migrants from acrosslthe Gulf stop when they 

 reach this coast. At such times, the coastal woods swarm with tana- 

 gers until on the first favorable night, they are off again, and the woods 

 are deserted." 



Alexander F. Skutch (MS.) reports: "In Central America the scarlet 

 tanager is known only as a passage migrant in both fall and spring. 

 In the 15 years during which I have given attention to the spring mi- 

 gration, I have recorded the scarlet tanager only five times, at dates 

 ranging from March 29 to April 30. All these records were made in 

 Costa Rica, four of them in El General in the southern part of the 

 country on the Pacific slope, the fifth at Vara Blanca, at an altitude of 



