158 BIRDS OF OHIO. 
fruit. I have seen it cutting the tender buds from elm trees 
and eating them. It is not injurious in any way, and is of 
considerable service to the farmer. 
The Scarlet Tanager reaches Ohio about the first of May, 
frequently earlier, and returns to the south late in Sep- 
tember. 
219. (610.) PIRANGA RUBRA (Linn.). 83. 
Summer Tanager. 
Synonyms: Pyranga estiva, Tanagra estiva, Fringilla rubra. 
Summer Redbird, Rose Tanager, Red Bee-bird, Flaxbird, 
Redbird, Mississippi Tanager, Variegated Tanager. 
Audubon, Orn. Biog., I, 1831, 232. 
The distribution of this southern species in our state is 
rather remarkable. It is found in Trumbull, Portage and 
Columbiana counties in the east, but does not go beyond 
Franklin in the center nor Montgomery in the west, except 
casually. It thus appears to remain close to the Ohio river 
or its main tributaries. Its northeast range appears to be due 
to a recent movement, since Dr. Wheaton says nothing about 
it. There is no direct evidence, except the northeast move- 
ment, that its range is being much extended. No doubt 
there will be records of individuals from further north, as 
our activity in field work increases, but any considerable ex- 
tension of its range in the next half century does not seem 
likely. 
The deep ravines and gorges of the southeastern and 
southern parts of the state seem to be the favorite abiding 
places of this not very brilliant tanager. During a boating 
trip down the Muskingum and Ohio rivers, from Zanes- 
ville to Ironton, with my friend and fellow bird student, 
Rev. William Leon Dawson, during August of 1902, we 
found these birds at almost every stop below Marietta. 
They are not uncommon about McConnellsville, where 
Messrs. C. H. Morris and E. J. Arrick have found them 
nesting, but we were not fortunate in finding them during 
our stay there. Mr. Arrick well described the peculiar call 
note, which was often heard along the Ohio river, by the 
