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ings and little variety in colour except in the even masses of the wings and tail. Spring 
males can only be compared with the Cardinal in colour, the autumn birds and females 
only with the female Orioles, but the lack of crest of the Tanagers will easily separate 
them from the Cardinals and the bill characters from either the Cardinals or Orioles. 
The Tanagers are a typically American family that reaches its highest 
development in the Tropics and is only regularly represented in eastern 
Canada by one species. As a family the Tanagers are so closely related 
to the Sparrows that the status of some extralimital species is still un- 
determined. 
608. Scarlet Tanager. RED BIRD. FIRE BIRD. WAR BIRD. FR.—LE TANGARA 
ECARLATE. Piranga erythromelas. L, 7-25. Plate XXXV A. 
Distinctions. Excepting the next species, the Summer Tanager, the Scarlet Tanager 
is only comparable with the Cardinal, but it is easily recognized by its lack of crest, slighter 
and longer bill, and black wings and tail. The even green of the female is distinctive, 
being approached only by a few much smaller Warblers and the Orioles. The autumn 
male is like the female, but with black wings and tail. 
Field Marks. Brilliant scarlet colour, with black wings and tail in the male and 
the even green coloration and size in other plumages. 
Nesting. Usually near the extremity of a branch, about 20 feet above the ground, 
in nest of leaves, strips of bark, etc. 
Distribution. Eastern America north to near the limit of settlements. 
The Scarlet Tanager shows remarkable seasonal and sexual plumage 
changes. In the spring the sexes are so entirely different that one wonders 
at their specific relationship, and in the summer the brilliant scarlet male 
gradually assumes the dull green of his mate. 
The Scarlet Tanager is a bird of light woodlands, where large timber 
grows with a sprinkling of small underbrush below, but in spring it 
occasionally visits the orchard. On arrival in spring the Scarlet Tanager 
is a most conspicuous object, but as the trees put on their leaves it becomes 
cautious in exposing itself and if it were not for its distinctive note ‘‘chip- 
chur” that directs attention to it, it would be most difficult to find. The 
song is cheerful, rythmical, and fairly sustained, something like a robin’s 
but more connected and not quite so clear. 
Economic Status. The food of the Scarlet Tanager consists mostly 
of insects and fruit. The insects are usually woodland species and their 
destruction is of importance to the forester and fruit grower. The fruit 
eaten is mostly wild, in fact most birds prefer wild to domestic fruit and 
given an abundance of the former seldom eat the latter. The Scarlet 
Tanager does no serious damage. 
610. Summer Tanager. SUMMER RED-BIRD. FR.—TANGARA VERMILLON. Piranga 
rubra. L, 7-50. Much like the Scarlet Tanager, but with red instead of black tail and 
dull brownish wings edged and tinged with red; the females bear the same relation to the 
male as do those of the Scarlet Tanager. 
Distinctions. The wings and tail are different from those of the Scarlet Tanager and 
the red is more rose-coloured, less brilliant and lighter below than on the back. The 
female is a warm orange-green of quite a different shade to the cold greenish of the allied 
female. She bears a fairly close resemblance to the female Baltimore Oriole, but the 
evenly coloured, unmarked back and wings and the Tanager bill make separation easy. 
Distribution. Southeastern United States and north to the latitude of southern 
Ohio. Has been recorded in Canada near the southern boundary along the lower Great 
Lakes and in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. 
The Summer Tanager is an accidental straggler in Canada, from 
the south, along the lower Great Lakes and in Nova Scotia and New 
Brunswick. 
