124 
SCARLET TANAGER. 
608. Piranga erythromelas. 7% inches. 
Male, scarlet and black; female, greenish yellow and 
blackish. 
These beautiful birds are found in open woods, but 
they often come out in fields, parks, orchards and 
sometimes in yards when feeding; one of the prettiest 
sights that I ever saw was of about a dozen of these 
birds tripping along the furrows of a ploughed field, 
where they were feeding on insects. Besides berries 
and seeds, they lve upon quantities of insects, fre- 
quently catching them on the wing in true Fiyeatcher 
style. 
Song.—Resembling that of the Robin, but harsher, 
less varied and higher pitchea. Call, a sharp chip or 
“chip-churr.”’ 
Nest.—Loosely made of twigs and rootlets, on lower 
branches of trees; eggs four, pale bluish green, spotted 
with brown (.95 x .65). 
Range.—Breeds in the northern parts of the U. S. 
from the Atlantic to the Plains; winters in the tropics, 
whence it arrives about May 15. 
