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The Blue Tanager, or " Blue Sackie" as it is 

 called by the natives, is one of the commonest birds 

 in British Guiana, where it may be both seen and heard 

 flying from tree to tree. It appears to be particularly 

 partial to palm-trees, where it doubtless finds abundant 

 insect life ; but it is not easily discovered when at rest 

 amongst the leaves, on account of the harmonising 

 colour of its plumage. For a description of the bird, 

 I shall refer my readers to Mr. Goodchild's plate ; 

 merely remarking that it is of a beautiful pale blue- 

 gre}'' color, darker on the flights, the wing-butts glis- 

 tening with silvery blue. Its length is about seven 

 inches. Both sexes are practically alike in colour, but 

 the male may be distinguished from his mate by his 

 more "snakey" shape. When the Blue Tanager is 

 about to fly from its resting-place, it bends forward 

 and downward, reminding one of a runner about to 

 start in a race. 



A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of looking 

 over the aviaries of my esteemed friend, the Editor, 

 and, needless to add, all the birds — except a few which 

 were moulting — were in splendid condition. A pair 

 of Blue Tanagers, shining like satin, were amongst 

 the most striking examples of his skill in aviculture. 

 One of the first birds I kept when residing in Deme- 

 rara, was a Blue Tanager. It was amongst a mixed 

 lot of about a dozen other colonial birds in a large 

 cage, which I won in a rafile for the modest sum of 48 

 cents ! It may interest our lady readers to learn that 

 the owner of the birds was a young lady about to be 

 be married. Whether this transaction was an effort 

 to " raise the wind," or because her fiance was not a 

 birdy man, I never ascertained. The Blue Tanager 



