318 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS —PASSEBES— OSCINES 



subequal and longest. Tail moderate in length, shorter than wings, emargiuate. Tarsus not 

 longer than middle toe ; lateral toes about equal, outer coherent with nuddle by nearly all of 

 the length of its basal joint. Sexes more or less unlike in color ; red usually prevailing in the 

 male sex. Habits migratory, insectivorous, arboreal; voice not musical. Eggs spotted. 

 Four species of this beautiful genus inhabit the U. S., three of them representing as many of 

 the sections into which it is divisible according to pattern of coloration. Numerous others are 

 found in the warmer parts of America. 



Analysis of Species, 

 (f Crimson or scarlet, with black wings and tail : $ clear olive and yellow. No wing-bars . . . rubra 154 

 cJ Vermilion or rose-red, including wings and tail; ? brownisli-olive and buflfy-j'ellow. Billlight. 



Smaller: length about 7.50; wing 3.75 cestiva 155 



Larger: length about 8.00; wing 4.25 cooperi 156 



(J Dusky-red above, including wings and tail, (f ashy-olive and yellow. Bill dark hepatica 157 



cf Yellow, with scarlet bead and black back, wings and tail. ? dear olive and yellow, with 2 wing-bars 



ludoviciana 158 



154. P. rub'ra. (Lat. rubra, red.) Scarlet Tanager. ^, adult: Crimson or scarlet ; wings 

 and tail black ; bill and feet dark horn-color. 9 ? adult : Above, clear olive-green ; below, 

 clear greenish -yellow ; wings and tail dusky, glossed with the color of the back ; no wing- 

 bars. (J , young : Like the 9 j later, when changing, patched with red, green, and black. 

 Adult males often show abnormal coloring, the body being yellow, orange, or flame-color; 

 or red patches appeaxaug on the wing coverts. ^ said to change back to plumage of 9 at 

 each fall moult (f ) Length 6.75-7.00 ; extent 11.00-12.00 ; wing 3.50-3.90 ; tail about 3.00. 

 Eastern U. S. and adjoining British Provinces, strictly ; W. to Kansas, Indian Territory, and 

 Texas ; not common N. of Massachusetts; breeds throughout its U. S. range; winters extra- 

 liraital. This brilliant creature nests in woods, groves, and orchards, upon the horizontal 

 bough of a tree, building a rather loose and shallow fabric of twigs, fibres, rootlets, etc. Eggs 

 3-5, 0.95 X 0.65, dull greeuish-blue, fully s^jotted with brown and lilac. 



155. P. aesti'va. (Lat. (estiva, summery; cestas, summer.) Rose Tanager. Summer Red- 

 bird. (J, adult : Rich rose-red or vermilion, including wings and tail ; the former dusky on 

 unexposed portions of the feathers; bill pale; feet darker. 9» adult: DuU brownish-olive 

 above, below dull brownish -yellow ; no wing-bars. ^ , young : Like the 9 • S changing 

 plumage shows red, greenish and yellowish in irregular patches, but no black. The 9 distin- 

 guished from 9 rubra by the dull brownish, ochrey, or huffy shades of the olive and yellowish, 

 the greenish and yellowish of 9 rubra being nmch clearer and paler ; also by the paler bill 

 and feet. The tint of mature males varies greatly ; from rosy to bricky red. Size of rubra, 

 or rather larger. Eastern U. S., strictly, and rather southerly; N. rarely to Connecticut, only 

 casually farther ; W. to Kansas, Indian Territory, and Texas. Migratory, abundant ; breeds 

 throughout its range; winters extralimital. Nesting and eggs like those of rubra. 



156. P. a. coo'peri. (To Dr. J. G. Cooper, of California.) Cooper's Tanager. Western Sum- 

 mer Red-bird. Characters of (estiva; back rather darker than head; larger; length about 

 8.00 ; extent about 13.00 ; wing 4.25; tail 3.60 ; bill 0.75 ; tarsus 0.80. Little distinguished. 

 Southern Rocky Mt. region. 



157. P, hepa'tica. (Lat. hepar, hepatis, the liver.) Hepatic Tanager. ^, adult: Upper 

 parts bro\\Tiish-ashy, intimately mixed with duU red; top of head, upper tail-coverts, and 

 edgings of wings and tail, brighter brownish-red. Inner webs and ends of wing-quills dusky ; 

 tail-feathers throughout decidedly tinged with red. Sides of the head like the back ; edges of 

 eyelids red. Below, bright red; sides and flanks shaded with the color of the back, many 

 feathers often also witli ashy skirting. BiU and feet blackish-plumbeous, the cutting edge of 

 the upper mandible furnished with a tooth more prominent than in most species (fig. 178). 

 Length about 8.00; wing 4.00; tail 3.33 ; bill 0.66; tarsus 0.80. 9, adult: Bill and feet as 

 in the ^. Upper parts greenish-olive, with an ashy-gray tinge, the crown and rump clearer 



