JU4 Synopsis of the Birds 



Bill short, robust, hard, conic-compressed, trigonate and 

 somewhat depressed at base.; upper mandible obtusely ca- 

 rinated, curved and notched at tip, longer and wider, 

 and overhanging the lower ; lower somewhat turgid to- 

 wards the middle, with the edges inflexed : nostrils basal, 

 lateral, rounded, open, partly covered by the frontlet 

 feathers: tongue short, cartilaginous, acute, bifid at tip. 

 Tarsus rather longer than the middle toe ; inner rather 

 shorter than the outer, which is united at base to the middle 

 one ; hind toe robust, equal in length to the inner ; hind nail 

 largest. Wings moderate; three first primaries subequal, 

 longest. 



Female and young differ extremely from the male, in 

 full plumage, which is subject to extraordinary changes, 

 according to the season. Moult semi-annually : colours very 

 brilliant. 



Active : incautious. Solitary or in families : reside 

 in woods and dry places. Feed indifferently on seeds, 

 berries, and insects, which latter they take on the wing, 

 or seek carefully among the branches of trees. Build on 

 trees of middling height. Abrupt in their motions : seldom 

 descending to the ground, and then proceeding by hops : 

 flight brisk. Voice not modulated, unpleasant. 

 Peculiar to America ; chiefly between the tropics. 

 By the relations of some of the species, passes into many 

 other genera, such as Fringilla, Muscicapa, Lanius, Icterus, 

 Quiscalus, Vireo, and even Sylvia ; and may be divided into 

 six subgenera or sections, of which but one is found, during 

 summer, within the limits of the United States. 



SUBGENUS PYRANGA. 



Tangaras Cardinals, Cuv. — Genus Pyranga, Vieill. 

 Upper mandible with an obtuse tooth each side, near the 

 middle. ■ 



