986 Report of State Geologist. 



XLI. Family TANAGRID^. Tanagers. 



o'. Bill stout, finchlike, with a more or less evident tooth near middle of cutting 

 edge of upper mandible. Piranga. 142 



142. Genus PIRANGA Vieillot. 

 a'. Male scarlet, wings and tail black ; female not red, under parts greenish yellow. 



P. erythromelas Vieill. 235 



0-. Male %ermiUion red; wings and tail not black; female not red; bufly yellow 



below. P. rubra (Linn.). 236 



*235. (608). Piranga erythromelas Vieillot. 



Scarlet Tanager. 

 Synonym, Black-winged Redbird. 



Adult Male. — Head and body, continuous, intense scarlet; wings 

 and tail, intense black; bill, greenish; feet, blue. Adult Female. — 

 Olive-green above, greenish-yellow beneath; under wing coverts, 

 white; wings and tail, fuscous. Immature Male. — At first, similar to 

 female, but with wings and tail black; later, with plumage spotted 

 with green and scarlet. 



Length, 6.50-7.50; wing, 3.55-3.90; tail, 2.80-3.25; bill, .55-.60. 



Range. — America, from Peru north over eastern United States to 

 New Brunswick and Manitoba. Breeds from southern Illinois and 

 Virginia north. Winters south of United States. 



Nest, on a horizontal lower limb of tree, usually on the borders of 

 a wood; of twigs, bark and leaves, lined with rootlets and bark fibres. 

 Eggs, 3-5; greenish-blue or bluish-white, speckled and blotched with 

 rufous-brown; .90 by .65. 



The brilliant red and jet-black plumage of the male Scarlet Tana- 

 ger have made it a well known bird to those familiar with the more 

 open woodland. Its less conspicuous mate is, however, a stranger. 

 They are common summer residents throughout the State, amving 

 in southern Indiana late in April, the migrants passing rapidly 

 through, and, in from three daj's to a week, usually reaching our 

 northern border. The following are early and late dates of its first 

 arrival: Brookville, April 22, 1882, May 1, 1884, and 1896; Bicknell, 

 April 18, 1896, April 24, 1894, and 1895; Bloomington, April 22, 

 1896, May 6, 1882; Lafayette, April 25, 1896, April 30, 1895; Sedan, 

 April 19, 1889, April 30, 1894; Laporte, May 2, 1893, May 9, 1896; 

 Petersburg, Mich., April 27, 1888, May 6, 1893; Chicago, 111., May 1, 

 1886, and 1896, May 11, 1894. 



In the Whitewater Valley they frequent the wooded hillsides and 

 uplands, being seldom found among the timber in the river bottoms. 



