TANA GRID.E — THE TANAGERS. 439 



in the season they were to be seen flying very actively about in quest of 

 insect food for their young. On the 10th of July he saw one carrying a worm 

 in its mouth, showing that its young were then hatched out. During the 

 breeding-season they are much less shy, the males frequently sitting on some 

 low limb, rendering the neighborhood joyous with their delightful melody. 



Their stomachs were found filled with insects, chiefly coleoptera; among 

 these were many fragments of the large green Buprcstis, found on the 

 Douglass fir-trees. 



Dr. Cooper adds to this account, that this bird arrives at Puget Sound 

 about May 15, and becomes a common summer resident in Washington Ter- 

 ritory, especially near the river-banks and among the prairies, on which are 

 found deciduous trees. He compares its song to that of its black- winged 

 relative {P. rubra), being of a few notes only, whistled in the manner of 

 the Kobin, and sounding as if the bird were quite distant, when in reality 

 it is very near. He met with these birds east of the Eocky Mountains and 

 up to the 49th parallel. 



In California the same observer noticed their arrival near San Diego, 

 in small parties, about the 24th of April. The males come in advance of 

 their mates, and are more bold and conspicuous, the females lieing rarely seen. 

 He saw none of them in the Coast Eange toward Santa Cruz, or at Santa 

 Barbara, in summer. He also found them in September, 18G0, in the higher 

 Itocky Mountains, near the sources of the Columbia, in latitude 47°. In the 

 fall the young and the old associate in families, all in the same dull-greenish 

 plumage, feeding on the berries of the elder, and other shrubs, without the 

 timidity they manifest in spring. 



Mr, J. K. Lord states that he did not once meet with this species west of 

 the Cascade Mountains. He found them on the Spokan Plains and at Col- 

 ville, where they arrive in June. Male birds were the first to be seen. On 

 their arrival they perch on the tops of the highest pine-trees, and continually 

 utter a low piercing chirp. They soon after pair, and disappear in the forest. 

 Where they breed, Mr. Lord was not able to discover, though he sought high 

 and low for their nests. As he never succeeded in finding them, he conjec- 

 tured that they must breed on the tops of the loftiest pine-trees. They all 

 leave in September, but do not assemble in flocks. 



These Tanagers breed at least as far to the south as Arizona, Dr. Coues 

 having found them a summer resident near Fort Whipple, though rare. 

 They arrive there in the middle of April, and leave late in September. 



Mr. Salvin states that this Tanager was found between the volcanoes of 

 Agua and Fuego, at an elevation of about five thousand feet. Specimens 

 were also received from the Vera Paz. 



Specimens of this species were taken near Oaxaca, Mexico, by Mr. Boucard, 

 where they are winter residents. 



Mr. Eidgway writes that he first met with these Tanagers in July, among 

 the pines of the Sierra Nevada. There its sweet song first attracted his 



