THE PERCHING BIRDS. 85 



" In Pennsylvania they are a rare species, having myself some- 

 times passed a whole summer without seeing one of them ; while in 

 New Jersey, even within half a mile of the shore opposite the city 

 of Philadelphia, they may generally be found during the season. 



" Its manners, though neither its bill nor tongue, partake very much 

 of those of the Flycatcher ; for I have frequently observed both male 

 and female, a little before sunset, in parts of the forest clear of under- 

 wood, darting after winged insects, and continuing thus engaged till 

 it was almost dusk." 



Scarlet Tanager. 



I do not know how abundant the summer red-bird 

 may be in the Southern States, but as a bird of New 

 Jersey we have now to speak of it in the past tense 

 rather than the present. It was a bird of our orchards 

 forty years ago, but is such no longer. The few that 

 wander this far north now constitute no distinct feature 

 of the blossoming orchard. It is said which goes 

 for very little that the scarlet tanager has slowly 

 taken its place. If so, it is a poor exchange. The 

 good old-fashioned summer red-bird was a songster 

 of that emphatic kind which appeals to young people. 

 He whistled with a vim. I fancy I can hear them 

 still, when of a bright May morning their shrill voices 

 sounded w^-WET-WET, clear as a fife, and the house- 

 dog would look as if some one were calling him, and 



