THE SCARLET TANAGER. 



NE of the most brilliant and 

 striking of all American 

 birds is the Scarlet Tanager. 

 From its black wings re- 

 sembling pockets, it is fre- 

 qnently called the " Pocket Bird." 

 The French call it the " Cardinal." 

 The female is plain olive-green, and 

 when seen together the pair present a 

 curions example of the prodigality 

 with which mother nature pours out 

 her favors of beauty in the adornment 

 of some of her creatures and seems 

 niggardly in her treatment of others. 

 Still it is only by contrast that we are 

 enabled to appreciate the quality of 

 beauty, which in this case is of the 

 rarest sort. In the January number 

 of Birds we presented the RedRumped 

 Tanager, a Costa Rica bird, which, 

 however, is inferior in brilliancy to 

 the Scarlet, whose range extends from 

 eastern United States, north to south- 

 ern Canada, west to the great plains, 

 and south in winter to northern South 

 America. It inhabits woodlands and 

 swampy places. The nesting season 

 begins in the latter part of May, the 

 nest being built in low thick woods or 

 on the skirting of tangled thickets ; 

 very often also, in an orchard, on the 

 horizontal limb of a low tree or sap- 

 ling. It is very flat and loosely made 

 of twigs and fine bark strips and lined 

 with rootlets and fibres of inner bark. 

 The eggs are from three to five in 

 number, and of a greenish blue, 

 speckled and blotted with brown, 

 chiefly at the larger end. 



The disposition of the Scarlet Tan- 

 ager is retiring, in which respect he 

 differs greatly from the Summer Tan- 

 ager, which frequents open groves, 

 and often visits towns and cities. A 

 few may be seen in our parks, and 

 now and then children have picked up 

 the bright dead form from the green 

 grass, and wondered what might be its 

 name. Compare it with the Redbird, 

 with which it is often confounded, and 

 the contrast will be strikine. 



His call is a warble, broken by a 

 pensive call note, sounding like the 

 syllables cJiip-cliiiri\ and he is regarded 

 as a superior musician. 



" Passing through an orchard, and 

 seeing one of these young birds that 

 had but lately left the nest, I carried 

 it with me for about half a mile to 

 show it to a friend, and having ]3ro- 

 cured a cage," says Wilson, " hung it 

 upon one of the large pine trees in the 

 Botanic Garden, within a few feet of 

 the nest of an Orchard Oriole, which 

 also contained young, hoping that the 

 charity and kindness of the Orioles 

 would induce them to supply the crav- 

 ings of the stranger. But charity with 

 them as with too many of the human 

 race, began and ended at home. The 

 poor orphan was altogether neglected, 

 and as it refused to be fed by me, I 

 was about to return it to the place 

 where I had found it, when, toward 

 the afternoon, a Scarlet Tanager, no 

 doubt its own parent, was seen flutter- 

 ing around the cage, endeavoring to 

 get in. Finding he could not, he flew 

 off, and soon returned with food in 

 his bill, and continued to feed it until 

 after sunset, taking up his lodgings on 

 the higher branches of the same tree. 

 In the morning, as soon as day broke, 

 he was again seen most actively en- 

 gaged in the same manner, and, not- 

 withstanding the insolence of the 

 Orioles, he continued his benevolent 

 offices the whole day, roosting at night 

 as before. On the third or fourth day 

 he seemed extremely solicitous for the 

 liberation of his charge, using every 

 expression of distressful anxiety, and 

 every call and invitation that nature 

 had put in his power, for him to come 

 out. This was too much for the feelings 

 of my friend. He procured a ladder, 

 and mounting to the spot where the 

 bird was suspended, opened the cage, 

 took out his prisoner, and restored him 

 to liberty and to his parent, who, with 

 notes of great exultation, accompanied 

 his flieht to the woods.'* 



214 



