AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 137 



ing over the shallow water. The sunlight reflected from the snow-white 

 bottom through the wonderfully colored water, giving their breasts and 

 under side of wings a most delicate and beautiful sea-green color. 



A. Hyatt Verrill, New Haven, Conn. 



Albino Scarlet Tanager. 



While walking in the woods on Long Island early one May morning in 

 1899, I heard the note of a scarlet tanager, and while 1 did not wish to col- 

 lect one, I walked a considerable distance in the direction from whence the 

 sound came for the purpose of seeing the bird, it being always a delight to 

 feast my eyes upon such bright plumage. Before 1 reached the spot the 

 bird flew across an opening to the trees on the opposite side, and I took 

 my course in that direction. As I approached I saw the bird sitting upon 

 the low branches of an oak, and to my amazement, noted that it had white, 

 yellow, and black wing and tail feathers. 



I shot it, but my bird flew, wounded, across the open space to the wood 

 at my left, and perched again in an oak tree. I walked leisurely to the 

 spot, expecting every minute to see it drop dead to the ground. I approach- 

 ed quite closely, but no inclination to fly was shown, indicating that the 

 bird was badly wounded. Not wishing to injure its plumage by shooting 

 again, I threw a stick into the branches of the tree for the purpose of start- 

 ling the bird and causing it to drop, but to my dismay it made a strong 

 flight, taking a bee line into the dense forest and was out of sight in an in- 

 stant, but I got a good glimpse of its great and peculiar beauty, and deter- 

 mined to spend the rest of the day, if need be, looking for it. 1 followed for 

 a long distance in its line of flight, scanning every tree, bush and the 

 ground hoping to see it again. 



I marked the course of its flight by breaking twigs and branches, that it 

 might again be identified if I wandered from it. After going as far as I 

 thought the bird would be likely to fly, 1 commenced a circular search and 

 wandered a considerable distance from the trail, which I lost. 



I succeeded in finding it again by means of the marks I had left. 



By following it back, a few rods to the left, I soon discovered the bird 

 upon a tall tree and immediately shot it, this time bringing it to the ground, 

 dead. It is now mounted and the gem of my collection of over 600 spec- 

 ies of N. A. Birds. 



That it is the most beautiful bird ever taken on this continent there is 

 very little doubt. It even surpasses in beauty the most brilliant of foreign 

 birds, cits variationQin plumage comes from the fact that it is partially 

 albino. The body ' plumage is light, transparent scarlet, while the wings 

 and tail,' instead -of being all black, are admixture of bright yellow, white, 

 black, -and pink, contrasting magnificently. ;john llwis childs, n. y. 



