THE SCARLET TANAGER 25 
the flaming scarlet feathers that render her mate 
so handsome. 
Southern readers will know also another kind 
of tanager, not red and black, but red all over. 
He, too, is a great beauty, although if the ques- 
tion were left to me, I could not give him the 
palm over his more northern relative. The red 
of the southern bird is of a different shade 
— “rose-red ” or “ vermilion,” the books call 
it. He sings like the scarlet tanager, but in a 
smoother voice. Although he is a red bird, he 
is not to be confounded with the southern red- 
bird. The latter, better known as the cardinal 
grosbeak, is a thick-billed bird of the sparrow and 
finch family. He is frequently seen in cages, 
and is a royal whistler. 
The scarlet tanager—the male in red and 
black plumage — is not to be mistaken for any- 
thing else in the Eastern States. Once see him, 
and you will always know him. For that reason 
he is an excellent subject for the beginner. He 
passes the winter in Central or South America, 
and returns to New England in the second week 
of May. He makes his appearance in full dress, 
but later in the season changes it for one resem- 
bling pretty closely the duller plumage of his 
mate. 
