Mai TANAGRIDAE 575 
made of grass, bark, leaves, roots, moss, hair, fur, lichens, and 
spiders’ webs, or even twigs, sedges, and feathers, and contain 
from two to six creamy or, exceptionally, greenish or purplish 
egos, more or less spotted or blotched with red-brown, grey, and 
lilac, or sometimes, as in J/yiodioctes, scrawled with black. 
Fam. XX XIII. Tanagridae..—The Tanagers form a New 
World group, hardly distinguishable from the Fringillidae, except 
by their more feeble conformation and their exposed nostrils. The 
coloration is often particularly gorgeous, but their habits are com- 
paratively little known. The bill varies much in length and 
thickness, the hooked tip being highly developed in Lamprotes 
and Seriéossypha, while Proenias has a wide Swallow-like gape. 
The metatarsi are short and stout; the toes are large, with sharp 
curved claws in Lamprotes and Sericossypha ; the wings are mode- 
rate and somewhat pointed, bemg unusually long in Procnias ; 
while the tail may be very short as in Huphonia, but is rarely long 
and graduated as in Cissopis, and only occasionally forked. 
These birds are characteristic of the forests and wooded 
country of the Neotropical Region, whence four species of 
Pyranga extend to the United States, and two reach Canada and 
British Columbia respectively; several forms, moreover, are 
peculiar to the Antilles. They are chiefly of small size, Luphonia 
possessing the least and Pitylus or Saltator the largest members 
of the Family; the sexes are commonly similar, but the female is 
often duller, or even quite different from the male, as in Rhampho- 
coelus and Pyranga. A short crest occurs rarely, as in Hucometis 
and Stephanophorus. The prevailing colours are black and red or 
uniform red in Pyranga, Phlogothraupis, and most species of Rham- 
phocoelus and Calochaetes ; blue or purplish-black and yellow in 
Buthraupis, Iridornis, and their nearest alles; blue and black in 
Procnias and Pseudodacnis; orange or yellow, with black and white 
in Spindalis and Lanio; black and white in Lamprospiza and 
Cissopis ; olive and brown in Chlorospingus ; chestnut and brown 
in Orchesticus ; grey, olive, yellow, or green, with more or less 
blue in Thraupis (Tanagra). LBuarremon and several other forms 
are comparatively dull; Zanagra (Calliste) exhibits a beautiful 
mixture of all the above hues; Huphonia is also varied, but lacks 
scarlet tints; Chlorochrysa is brillant green, relieved by orange, 
chestnut, blue, and black. The bill may be red, black, yellow, 
1 For the Family see Sclater, Monogr. Tanag. 1857 ; and Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xi. 1886. 
