THE TANAGERS 



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name from the prevalence of scarlet in their coloration, and are naturally confined to 

 Africa and Arabia, although some have been introduced into Madagascar and St. 

 Helena. There are about a dozen species. 



THE TANAGERS 

 Family TANAGRID^E 



Numerous both as regards species and genera, and brilliant in coloration, the 

 tanagers have been not inaptly described as dentirostral finches, since they possess a 

 conical, finch-like beak, triangular at the base and notched near the tip. The notch 

 in the beak is, however, scarcely apparent, or obsolete in some of the genera, while 



VIOI.ET TANAGER. 



(Natural size. 



in others it is greatly developed. Chiefly remarkable for their gay colors, the tana- 

 gers feed much more upon fruits and insects than is the case with the finches, while 

 some members of the group possess vocal powers of a high order. All have but nine 

 primary quills in the wing. Exclusively American, the family is represented by 

 upward of four hundred species, the majority of which are restricted to the inter- 

 tropical regions of Central and South America, although a few migrate as far north 

 as the United States in summer. 



