80 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



According to Gosse (Birds Jam., p. 238) this species 

 is an irwjustrious songster, and utters very distinct 

 sounds, penetrating, long-drawn, as well as deep-sound- 

 ins; tones reminding one of the ciy of a Falcon. Apart 

 from these sounds it also utters a pleasing mei!odioua 

 song.* 



Dr. Russ received this Tanager from the dealer Lintz, 

 but it appears to be very rare in the bird-market. 



We now come to what Dr. Sclater regarded as the more 

 typical Tanagers {Tanagrinm), which he again sub- 

 d'ivided by the characttjr of the bill— slender, strong, 

 bristly, weak. Whether it is natural to place such 

 different types in one subfamily, is happily a question 

 which I am not called upon to decide. 



Red-bellied T.^nager (Tanagrrlla velia). 



"Above velvety black; forehead, sides of head, ex- 

 ternal edgings of wing and tail feathers, and oipper tail- 

 coverts bright blue ; lower b.ick shining silvery green ; 

 below bright blut". irregular collar across the throat 

 black ; middle of bellj* and crissum chestnut-red ; under 

 -.ving-covevts white; bill black, feet dark brown; whole 

 length 4.10in., wiiig 2.8, tail 2. Female similar, but 

 not quite so bright in colouring. Habitat, Cayenne and 

 Guiana " (P. L. Sclater). 



Obtained on Rorainia at a height of 3,500 feet 

 (cf. The Ibis, 1885, p. 209). I have not, howe<ver, suc- 

 ceeded in di-i^covering any not^s on its habits. 



An example was presented to the Ix>ndon Zoological 

 Society by Sir William Ingram in .July. 1893, and 1 

 have aJi impression on my mind that this is not the 

 only known instance of its importation; indeed, a 

 dead specimen was sent to me in the flesh in 1900. 

 Blue-.\nd-Bl.\ck T.^N.tGER (Tanagrrlla cyanomelcena). 



Velvet black, with the forehead bright blue; centre 

 of crown and lower back pale silvery green ; upper tail- 

 coverts and outer margin.s of wing and tail feather.? 

 bright blue; sides of head and throat bright blue; a 

 black collar; under surface of body greyish-blue with 

 the centre of abdomen and under tail-coverts chestnut- 

 red ; under wmg-ooverts white ; bill black ; feet dark 

 brown; irides brown. Female similar in colouring, but 

 with a longer, more slender and tapering bill. Habitat, 

 S.E. Brazil. 



Bunneister gives no information respecting the wild 

 life, nor can I discover any notes elsewhere. 



A specimen of this beautiful species was purchased by 

 the London Zoological Socirty in Februarj', 1892, and 

 birds identified with this sri)ecies have more than once 

 appeared at our bird shows. 



Black-d.vcked Takagku (Pipridfa melanonota). 



Male above violaceous blue ; forehead, lores, and sides 

 of head velvet black ; interscapular region blue-blackish ; 

 wings and tail black edged with blue; body and wing- 

 coverts below clear ochraceous ; flights and tail-feathers 

 below blacki.'h ; bill black ; feet broftvn (Sclater), leaden 

 (Taczanowski) ; irides clear reddish brown. Female 

 above dark brown, the head and rump tinged with 

 blue; wings and tail black edged with blue, forehead, 

 lores, and sides of head black ; below clear ochreous. 

 Habitat, Paraguay, S.E. Brazil, Bolivia, Pern, Ecuador, 

 and Venezuela. 



Taczanow.ski (" Ornith. Perou," Vol. U., p. 451) 

 remarks that ".at Tambillo they were always high up 

 in the tops of trees." 



Of the examples shot bj' Goodfellow on hi.«! journey 

 through Colombia and Ecuador [The Ihis, 1901, p. 160) 

 he says: — "Iris in all ca.ses bright red. The stomachs 

 contained berries." 



This is all that I have discovered connected with the 



• Not having Go&se's book in my library I quote from Russ. 



wild Jife. Two specimens reached the London. Zoo- 

 logical Gardens in 1866. 



At recent bird-shows the Black-shouldered Tanager 

 {Cnlli.ilt melaiwnota) has been called Black-backed; tihia 

 IS very confusing, and ought to bo avoided. 



The genus Callisir is the largest and most Ijeautiful 

 group of birds in the family. Dr. Sclater says of it : — 

 "Salmon found three species of CaUinlc ne.sting in the 

 St.ate of Antioquia. The nest is open, made outwardly 

 of moss, and lined with fine roots, fibres, and horsehair. 

 The eggs are pale greenish in colour, more or less 

 thickly spotted and blotched with various shades of 

 brown."— "Cat. Birds," Vol. XL, p. 95. 



Paradise Tan.\gek {Calliste tatao). 



Male above velvet-black ; with the crowni and sides 

 of hrad bright grass-green ; lower back bright crinuson, 

 shading into orange on the rump ; lesser wing-coverts 

 turquuise-blue ; other coverts and jjrimaries edged more 

 or less with puj-])Iish blue ; throat puiiilish-blue; breast 

 and greater part of abdomen turijuoise-blue ; hinder 

 abdomen and under tail-coverts blackish ; bill black ; 

 feet dark brown or black ; irides brown. Female similar, 

 but smaller, the colours slightly duller, the head less 

 golden in hue; the crimson or scarlet on back more 

 restricted, and the bine on the throat more restricted in 

 adult birds. Habitat, Cayenne, Guiana, Rio Negro, 

 C':)lombia, and N.E. Peru. 



Burmeister remarks of this Tanager that it "inhabits 

 the forest region of Brazil to the lower Amazon, and 

 goes southward about as far as Pern.ambuco, at most 

 exceptionally to Bahia; northwards the species extends 

 over Guiana, Venezuela, and New Grenada, but no 

 nearer to Peru. It is certainly not. foijnd at Rio de 

 Janeiro; there one meets with the bird in the hands of 

 dealers, but not at liberty." (" Syst. Ucbers.," III., 

 p. 188.) He seems, however, to be wrong as regards 

 Peru, there being a male from Huambo in the British 

 Museum series. 



In his " Naturalist in the Guianas," p. 190, Eugene 

 Andre givts a coloured illustration of this Tanager, and 

 remarks: — "My men collected some good Callisles, 

 among which were two males and one female of the 

 b.^autiful Callis/e paradisea." Naturally he gives no 

 information respecting the wild life of the species. 



On Minimi mountains, Rorainia, this bird occurs at 

 .an elevation of from 3,000 to 4.000 feet, according tc 

 Henry Whitely. {Tlic Ihis, 1885, p. 209.) 



In Peru, according to .Stolzmann. it occurs sometimes 

 in considerable flocks in high forest or oi)en spaces, 

 but ai>parently not at a higher elevation than 4.500 

 fe;'t; in the stomachs of those he obtained be found 

 seed.s and insects. (A. Taczanowski, " Ornifli. Perou," 

 II., p. 459.) 



On account of its surpassing beauty this is a favourite 

 cage-bird in .South America, and therefOTe it is the 

 more surprising that it should so rarely be importe<l 

 into the bLrdmarkets of Euro(pe. It has not been ex- 

 hibited by the London Zoological Society, nor have I 

 ever seen a living example in an,v biid-shop or at any 

 show; but in 1893 the dealer Fockelmann imported 

 some specimens into the German market, and several 

 years later a single specimen found its way to the 

 Zoological Gardens of Berlin. 



SupERi) Tan.ager {CaUisle fa$luosa). 



Head and neck brilliant emerald green, the forehead 

 black ; upper back velvet-black, lower back and outer 

 borders of outer secondaries brilliant orange-cadmium ; 

 lesser mng-coverts green, almost like the head ; outer 

 coverts purple; wings .and tail black, the primaries, 

 inner secondaries and tail feathers edged with purple; 

 under surface mostly blue ; the chin black, then a band 



