BIRD NOTES AFIELD 



dusky; shoulder patch and tips of tail-feathers white. Found chiefly in 

 San Diego County, where it occurs in flocks. 



THE TAN ACER FAMILY 



This immense family of brilliant tropical American birds has but 

 one representative commonly found in California. The tanagers are re- 

 lated to the finch family, but have a rather more rounded bill, better 

 adapted to cutting than to crushing. They are fruit and insect-eaters 

 and inhabit the woodland. They are noted for the brilliancy of their 

 colors, red and yellow predominating. 



145. Cooper's Tanager; Piranga rubra cooperi Ridgw. 



Red, dull brownish red above, bright rosy below. Found only in 

 the southeastern desert country. 



146. Western Tanager; "Louisiana" Tanager; Piranga ludovi- 

 ciana (Wils.). 



Size of a large finch. Length, seven inches. Head and neck bright 

 red, sometimes deepening to crimson. Back, wings and tail black, the 

 wings crossed by two yellow bars; rump and entire lower parts bright 

 yellow; the throat and breast with more or less of a scarlet tinge. 

 Female olive-greenish or grayish above ; below yellow or pale olive-gray. 

 Two faint wing bars of lighter shade. Wooded portions of the State, 

 breeding in the mountains, migrating through the valleys. A beautiful 

 species, quiet and retiring in habits. 



THE SWALLOW FAMILY 



Birds of swift and sustained flight, with long, sharp wings, short 

 and flattened bill, the mouth opening very wide, and short, weak feet. 

 They are among our most abundant and familar birds, living upon 

 insects caught upon the wing. The wings are not vibrated with the fre- 

 quency or rapidity of the swift's, the swallows depending more upon 

 sailing. 



147. Western Purple Martin; Progne suhis hesperia Brewst. 

 Largest of the swallows (length, eight inches). Male glossy bluish 



black above and below. Female whitish and grayish below, bluish 

 black, less clear above. A noisy and conspicuous species, social in habits. 

 Coast Mountains and interior valleys of California. 



148. CHff-Swallow; Petrochelidon lunifrons (Say). 



This and the following species are two of the most generally dis- 

 tributed and common summer residents of North America. Length 

 about five inches. General color above lustrous bluish black; a gray 



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