80 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



According to Gosse (Birds Jam., p. 238) this species 

 is an industrious songster, and utters very distinct 

 sounds, penetrating, long-drawn, as well as deep-sound- 

 ing tones reminding one of the ciy of a Falcon. Apart 

 from these sounds it also utters a pleasing melodious 

 song-.* 



Dr. Russ received this Tanager from the dealer Lintz, 

 but it appears to be very rare in the bird-market. 



We now come to what Dr. Sclater regarded as the more 

 typical Tanagers (Tanagrince), which he again sub- 

 divided by the character of the bill slender, strong, 

 bristly, weak. Whether it is natural to place such 

 different types in one sub-family, is happily a question 

 which I am not called upon to decide. 



RED-BELLIED TANAGER (Tanagrdla velia). 



"Above velvety black; forehead, sides of head, ex- 

 ternal edgings of wing and tail feathers, and Tipper tail- 

 coverts bright blue ; loiwer back shining silvery green ; 

 below bright blue, irregular collar across the thi-iat 

 black; middle of belly and crissum chestnut-red; under 

 wins-coverts white ; bill black, feet dark brown ; whole 

 length 4.10in., wing 2.8, tail 2. Fsinnle similar, but 

 not quite so bright in colouring. Habitat, Cayenne and 

 Guiana " (P. L. Sclater). 



Obtained on Roraima at a height of 3,500 feet 

 (cf. The Ibis, 1885, p. 209). I have not, however, suc- 

 ceeded in discovering any notes on its habits. 



An example was presented to the London Zoological 

 Society by Sir William Ingram in July, 1893, and 1 

 have an impression on my mind that this is not the 

 only known instance of its importation ; indeed, a 

 dead specimen was sent to me in the flesh in 1900. 



BLUE-AXD-BLACK TANAGER (Tanagrella cyanomelcena) . 



Velvet black, with the forehead bright blue; centre 

 of crown and lower back pale silvery green; upper tail- 

 coverts and outer margins of wing and tail feathers 

 bright blue ; sides of head and throat bright blue ; a 

 black collar ; tinder surface of body greyish-blue with 

 th-i centre of abdomen and under tail-coverts chestnut- 

 red ; under wing-coverts white ; bill black ; feet dark 

 brown ; irides brown. Female similar in colouring, but 

 with a longer, more slender and tapering bill. Habitat, 

 S.E. Brazil. 



Burmeister gives no information respecting the wild 

 life, nor can I discover any notes elsewhere. 



A specimen of this beautiful species was purchased by 

 the London Zoological Society in Februaiy, 1892, and 

 birds identified with this species have more than once 

 appeared at our bird shows. 



BLACK-BACKED TANAGER (Pipridea melanonota). 



Male above violaceous blue ; forehead, lores, and sides 

 of head velvet black ; interseapular region blue-blackish ; 

 wings and tail black edged with blue ; body and wing- 

 coverts below clear ochra.ceous ; flights and tail-feathers 

 below blackish ; bill black; feet brown (Sclater), leaden 

 (Taczanowski) ; irides clear reddish brown. Female 

 above dark brown, th head and rump tinged with 

 blue ; wings and tail black edged with blue, forehead, 

 lores, and sides of head black; below clear ochreous. 

 Habitat, Paraguay, S.E. Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, 

 and Venezuela. 



Taczanowski (" Ornith. Perou," Vol. II., p. 451) 

 remarks that "at Tambillo they were always high up 

 in the tops of trees." 



Of the examples shot by Goodfellow on his journey 

 through Colombia and Ecuador (The Ibis, 1901, p. 460) 

 he says : " Iris in all cases bright red. The stomachs 

 contained berries." 



This is all that I have discovered connected with the 



* Not having- Gosse's book in my library I quote from Russ. 



wild life. Two specimens reached the London, Zoo- 

 logical Gardeais in 1866. 



At recent bird- shows the Black-shouldered Tanager 

 (Calliste melanonota) lias been called Black-backed ; tins. 

 is very confusing, and ought to be avoided. 



The genus Calliste is the largest and most beautiful 

 group of birds in the family. Dr. Sclater says of it : 

 " Salmon found three species of Calliste nesting in th e 

 State of Antioquia. The nest is open, made outwardly 

 of moss, and lined with fine roots, fibres, and horsehair. 

 The eggs are pale greenish in colour, more or less 

 thickly spotted and blotched with various shades of 

 brown."" Cat. Birds," Vol. XI., p. 95. 



PARADISE TANAGER (Calliste tatao). 



Male above velvet-black ; with, the crown and sides 

 of bead bright grass-green ; lower back bright crimson, 

 shading into orange on the rump; lesser wing-coverts 

 turquoise-blue; other coverts and .primaries edged more 

 or less with purplish-blue ; throat purplish-blue; breast 

 and greater part of abdomen turquoise-blue ; hinder 

 abdomen and under tail-coverts blackish; bill black; 

 feet dark brown or black ; irides brown. Female similar, 

 but 'smaller, the colours slightly duller, the head less 

 golden in hue; the crimson or scarlet on back more 

 restricted, and the blue on the .throat more restricted in 

 adult birds. Habitat, Cayenne, Guiana, Rio Negro, 

 Colombia, and N.E. Peru. 



Burmeister remarks of this Tanager that it " inhabits 

 the forest region of Brazil to the lower Amazon, and 

 goes southward about as fair as Pernambuco, at most 

 exceptionally to Bahia; northwards the species extends 

 over Guiana, Venezuela, and New Grenada, but no 

 nearer to Peru. It is certainly not found at Rio de 

 Janeiro ; there one meets with the bird in the hand's of 

 dealers, 'but not at liberty." ("iSyst. Ueibers.," IH., 

 p. 188.) He seems, however, to be wrong as regards 

 Peru, there being a male from Huambo in the British 

 Museum series. 



In his " Naturalist in the Guianas," p. 190, Eugene 

 Andre giveis a coloured illustration of this Tanager, and 

 remarks: "My men collected some good Callistes t 

 among which were two -males and one female of the 

 beautiful Calliste paradisea." Naturally he gives no 

 information respecting the wild life of the species. 



On Minimi mountains, Roraima, this bird occurs at 

 an elevation of from 3,000 to 4.000 feet, according to 

 Henry Whitely. (The Ibis, 1885, p. 209.) 



In Peru, according to Stolzmann, it occurs sometimes 

 in considerable flocks in high forest or open spaces, 

 but apparently not at a higher elevation than 4,500 

 feet; in the stomachs of those he obtained he found 

 seeds and insects. (A. Taczanowski, " Ornith. Perou,' r 

 II.. p. 459.) 



On account of its surpassing beauty this is a favourite 

 cage-bird in South America, and therefore it is the 

 more surprising that it should so rareily be imported 

 into the bird-markets of Europe. It has not been ex- 

 hibited by the London Zoological Society, nor have I 

 ever seen a living example in any bird-shop or at any 

 show; but in 1893 the dealer Fo'cjkelmann imported" 

 some specimens into the German market, and several 

 years later a single specimen found its way to the: 

 Zoological Gardens of Berlin. 



SUPERB TANAGER (Calliste fastuosa). 



Head and neck brilliant emerald green, the forehead 1 

 black ; upper back velvet-black, lower back and outer 

 borders of outer secondaries brilliant orange-cadmium ; 

 less-er wing-coverts green, almost like the head ; outer 

 coverts purple ; wings and tail black, the primaries, 

 inner secondaries and tail feathers edged with purple ; 

 under surface mostly blue ; the chin black, then a band 1 



