^O Scott on the Birds of Arizona. [January 



179. Piranga hepatica. Hepatic Tanager. — Observed only in the 

 oak region of the Santa Catalinas (5000 feet), where they are summer 

 residents, breeding late in the season, from May 6 to 9, and remain till 

 about September 10. 



A pair taken July 12, 1884 {$ , No. 533, $, No. 534), were breeding, 

 the female having finished incubating only three or four days before. 

 The «est was on the outer branch of a live oak, and was an entirely simi- 

 lar structure to that oi Piranga erytkromelas, and contained three young 

 birds. 



From specimens taken early in September it appears that the adult 

 male of this species assumes in fall a plumage very like that of the adult 

 female. I have also found males in a similar though not identical 

 plumage, mated and breeding late in June, which would seem to indi- 

 cate that the brilliant plumage of the male is not acquired until the birds 

 are at least two years old. The males noted breeding in the greenish 

 yellow plumage were quite as accomplished songsters as the brilliant 

 males, but I think the females do not sing. 



180. Piranga rubra cooperi. Cooper's Tanager. — A common mi- 

 grant and summer resident about Tucson, Riverside, Florence, and at 

 Mineral Creek, as well as in the San Pedro valley. They seem more 

 rare than either of the other species of Tanager in the oak region of the 

 Catalinas, and though a few breed, for they were observed all through 

 spring, summer, and early autumn, no nests were discovered. At this 

 point, altitude 4000 feet, the earliest record of the spring arrival is May 

 2, and the latest birds observed in fall were seen September 10, when one 

 v/as taken and two others seen. 



Of this subspecies I am also inclined to think that the males do not 

 assume the brilliant phase of plumage till at least two years old, as I have 

 taken yellowish colored males in June in full song and, from the condi- 

 tion of the testes, evidently breeding. 



Of the typical Piranga rubra I have also a specimen of an adult male 

 bird taken near Tarpon Springs, Florida, in October, that is in the 

 same brilliant plumage as in the spring. This bird had evidently only 

 finished the moult a short time, as the feathers were wholly unworn and 

 very brilliant. I also have notes of two other adult male birds of this 

 species in the red plumage seen by me near the same locality in October, 

 18S6. 



In conclusion I may summarize my opinion on this subject by stating 

 that I think that the fully adult males of P. erytkromelas and P. hepatica, 

 after having assumed the brilliant plumage of the breeding season, in 

 the fall assume a plumage similar to that of the adult female, but that P. 

 rubra proper, and probablj' the subspecies cooperi, once having assumed 

 the brilliant plumage, wear it always. In the collection is a Tanager 

 (No. 2434, $ ad., taken in the Catalinas, altitude 4000 feet, on May 6, 

 18S5), that I can only refer to this subspecies. It has no regular pattern 

 in the coloration, but is curiously marked at random with dark green, light 

 pink and golden yellow in patches. The plumage is not at all worn, and 

 the bird can only be regarded as a freak or anomaly. 



