262 General Notes. [*g 



tree. Taken with the greenish color of the female, it was a remarkable 

 instance of color illusion ; every time I wanted to see the nest, knowing 

 the branch it was on, I had to run my eye along tbe branch till it met 

 the nest before I could see it; the shallow nest and the greenish female 

 were remarkably inconspicuous. Only the female took part in the 

 duties of incubation. She would remain on the nest even when one 

 passed closely, but if anyone stopped to look at her, she would glide off 

 the nest through the tree in the opposite direction, so quietly as to almost 

 make one doubtful of her presence. The birds became quite accustomed 

 to seeing one of my family sitting at the window close by. I did not go 

 very near the nest for fear of disturbing the birds. 



When the young, were hatched another peculiarity was noticed, these 

 birds differing much from most birds in the manner of feeding their 

 voung. I watched several evenings for an hour or more at a distance 

 from the tree, but could clearly see the nest with my field glass. Still 

 I did not once see the female feed her young. Most birds feed their 

 young often just before sunset, and I think the female Tanager must 

 have known she was watched, for one evening I watched as long as I 

 could see the nest and no mother appeared. I thought some harm must 

 have happened to her, but next morning she was at home. My business 

 did not allow me to watch them much during the day; one afternoon 

 the bright male Tanager put in an appearance in the upper part of 

 the tree, but seeing me he made off without coming near the nest. 



Soon the downy backs of the nestlings showed above the rim of the 

 basket house, when the hen seldom brooded them unless it was wet 

 weather. These youngsters were perfectly quiet, never clamoring for 

 food,' like so many other nestlings. Before they were big enough to 

 project conspicuously above their flat nest they left it and went higher 

 up the tree. This was on the 3d of July. Their color being greenish, it 

 was very hard to distinguish them in the upper branches where they were 

 secreted and fed by the parents. 



A few days before leaving the nest a violent tempest passed over the 

 vicinitv; trees were thrown down and scattered over the ground in all 

 directions; many nests of different birds were tossed or knocked out of 

 the trees by wind or hailstones. I thought it impossible for my Tanagers 

 to escape harm, but they were all right after the storm, which showed 

 how the faithful mother must have covered them. The young birds and 

 mother remained about for several weeks, but the male was absent, if his 

 scarlet was still worn. 



I took down the deserted nest. It was composed of long fine brown 

 rootlets, fine thin stems of running blackberry, with a little grass and 

 string evenly woven ; it was thinly lined with a fine yellowish brown, 

 thread-like fibre, as fine as horsehair. The whole structure can be seen 

 through yet it is strong. 



Had I expressed an opinion on the habits of the Scarlet Tanager from 

 that year's observation I should have said the male bird was very shy, 



