V" TANAGRTDAE 



575 



made of grass, bark, leaves, roots, moss, hair, fur, lichens, and 

 spiders' webs, or even twigs, sedges, and feathers, and contain 

 from two to six creamy or, exceptionally, greenish or purplish 

 eggs, more or less spotted or blotched with red-brown, grey, and 

 lilac, or sometimes, as in Myiodioctes, scrawled with black. 



Fam. XXXIII. Tanagridae.^ The Tanagers form a Xew 

 World group, hardly distinguishable from the Fringillidae, except 

 by their more feeble conformation and their exposed nostrils. The 

 coloration is often particularly gorgeous, but their habits are com- 

 paratively little known. The bill varies much in lengtli and 

 thickness, the hooked tip being highly developed in Zamprotes 

 and ScricossyjJha, while Frocnias has a wide Swallow-like gape. 

 The metatarsi are short and stout ; the toes are large, with sharp 

 curved claws in Lamprotes and Sericossypha ; the wings are mode- 

 rate and somewhat pointed, being miusually long in Frocnias ; 

 while the tail may be very short as in Fnphonia, but is rarely long 

 and graduated as in Cissopis, and only occasionally forked. 



These birds are characteristic of the forests and wooded 

 country of the Neotropical Eegion, whence four species of 

 Fyranga extend to the United States, and two reach Canada and 

 British Columbia respectively ; several forms, moreover, are 

 peculiar to the Antilles. They are chiefly of small size, Fvphonia 

 possessing the least and Fityhis or Saltator the largest members 

 of the Family ; the sexes are commonly similar, but the female is 

 often duller, or even quite different from the male, as in Fhampho- 

 coelus and Fyranga. A short crest occurs rarely, as in Fticometis 

 and Stephanopliorus. The prevailing colours are black and red or 

 uniform red in Fyranga, FJilogothrcmpis, and most species oi FJiam- 

 phocoelus and Calochaetes ; blue or purplish-black and yellow in 

 Buthraupis, Iridornis, and their nearest allies ; blue and black in 

 Frocnias and Fseudodacnis ; orange or yellow, with black and white 

 in Sinndcdis and Lanio ; black and white in Lamprosp)iza and 

 Cisso^ns ; olive and brown in Chlorospingus ; chestnut and l)rowu 

 in Orchesticus ; grey, olive, yellow, or green, with more or less 

 blue in Tliraupis {Tanagra). Buarremon and several other forms 

 are comparatively dull ; Tanagra {Ccdliste) exhibits a beautiful 

 mixture of all the above hues ; Evplionia is also varied, but lacks 

 scarlet tints ; Chlorochrysa is brilliant green, relieved by orange, 

 chestnut, blue, and black. The bill may be red, black, yellow, 



^ For the Family see Sclater, Monoyr. Tanag. 1857 ; and Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xi. 1 SSG. 



