THE SCARLET TANAGER. 13 



bird, and easy to keep in health ; it seems to have eaten almost 

 any kind of ripe fruit, and Mr. Abrahams would be shocked to hear 

 that it usually had some grocers' currants mixed with its soft food. 

 Mind, I am not recommending these, but merely stating the fact that 

 this individual specimen ate a good many in the course of a year 

 without apparent injury. I am afraid that most amateur bird-keepers 

 are sinners in this item of currants ; I have given them to Blue- 

 birds, and other fanciers give them to Spectacle-birds, for all of which 

 species Mr. Abrahams assures me they are unquestionably bad. 



Herr Wiener says that " this beautiful bird will live for years in 

 a roomy cage, under favourable circumstances. He has been bred 

 repeatedly and reared successfully by a lady in Belgium, . but not as 

 yet elsewhere." 



I will not repeat what Herr Wiener says respecting the food for 

 this bird, because his receipt contains materials which, to my mind, are 

 worse than currants. I shall avoid the latter whenever I obtain Tanagers, 

 and give them, as Mr. Abrahams recommends, his food with stale 

 bread-crumbs, preserved yolk and potato, ripe pears, bananas, and sweet 

 oranges ; also a few mealworms and caterpillars when obtainable. 



Bates, speaking of the two commonest Tanagers of Para, one of 

 which is a species of Rhamphocalus, says : " In their habits they resemble 

 the common House-Sparrow of Europe, which does not exist in South 

 America, its place being in some measure filled by these familiar 

 Tanagers. They are just as lively, restless, bold, and noisy; their 

 notes are very similar, chirping and inharmonious ; and they seem to 

 be almost as fond of the neighbourhood of man. They do not, however, 

 build their nests on houses." 



Dr. Russ describes the Scarlet Tanager as unsociable and malicious 

 in bird-room and aviary ; it also steals the callow young out of nests. 

 Hitherto successfully bred in 1877 by the Princess Croy, in her castle 

 Roeulr, at Hainaut, Belgium. The male had already moulted three 

 times, and each time had recovered his splendid colouring. The 

 Princess kept the female two years. The male danced round the female 

 flipping tail and wings with shrill screams of delight. The latter uttered 

 only a soft, chirping sound. The pair carried a little nesting material 

 into an open basket nest in a protected corner of the garden. Laying 

 two eggs, bluish-green, (according to Burmeister, Prince Wied, and 

 others, spotted and splashed with dark colouring) ; the hen alone incu- 

 bated, thirteen days ; young reared by both. Young plumage blackish 

 brown, breast and back reddish brown. Old and young were very tame. 

 They ate a quantity of mealworms, cut up small, and mixed with fresh 



