TAN 





TAN 



of the greater number of t he finches: so th 

 ti.ni of these two charaetcrs is, he l!i. 



imhina- 



th, ! - 



.. . he 

 la in" tlu-ir c 



the whole, as far as has luthcrt n nn- 



.fthe warmer ]>:irts ol" America, being most abundant 

 111 those region* nearest to the equhux-tial line. 'Tiny 

 an-.'- - \ainson in roiitinuution, in central Miiail 



-i being intermediate between a sparrow 

 and ;i thrush, while tin- majority ilo not exceed tlir 

 .1 lin. .-w are even smaller. It is quite evident, 



from the great strength of bill possessed by some, ami the 

 nuteh whirh is coiupicuoiu in nil. that these liirils feed 

 ii|Kni weds and creeping insects picked from tile branches 

 of li. .cry tew 'of them an ever -cell upon the 



ground. Tlieir colours in general are bright ; and. in a 

 number, particularly rieli and beautiful. The little 

 bird-, forming the genus Afilnin, in Tact, are ornameiilnl 

 with the mo.-t \ivid hues or glossed with rieb refleetions of 

 told, rendering them interior only to the Humming HinU. 

 Some posse-> considerable \neal powcis: and the notes of 

 the subgenus l-jifihiiiiia, as it* name implies, are said to be 

 particularly nni.-ieal. The impossibility however ot' pro- 

 viding the Tanagen with their native sweet food !>. 

 \entedtliemfrom ever being brought alive to the Hiiropean 

 menageries, to which their beauty would render them the 

 greatest ornaments.' 



Mr. Swainsou then dwells on the obscurity which at- 

 tends the examination of this group, which he states to be 

 one of the most difficult to be understood in the whole 

 circle of ornithology. He points out, for instance, that the 

 comparative strength "f the bill is so vaj-iiible in th. 

 subgenus, that such variation, indicative of genera in other 

 families, is in this no more than a discrimination of sections 

 or species. Nothing, according to him. can illustrate this 

 fact more than the affinity between 1'itylim and Tarilirnlii. 

 Looking to the types of each, he observes, we should sa> 

 that they did no) belong even to the same subfamily; for 

 the bill of the first is nearly as large as in the hawfinches 

 (Coccothrauistrs, HAWFINCH), while that of Turilirt. 

 comparatively slender that it seems more akin to the 

 LARKS than to the Tanagers; and yet, he remarks in con- 

 tinuation, between these two extremes or type.-, he had 

 when he wrote, before him such a perfect scries of gradu- 

 ated forms, wherein not only the bill, but all the other 

 subordinate characters of the two groups, progress in slid 

 a ]>erpetual and almost imperceptible manner, that he was 

 actually at uloss to know where Tin/iru/.i ends and I'iti/lui 

 begins. The foregoing affinity being admitted, and i' 

 should be remembered that some of the best ornithologies 

 writers have placed it as a genus in a totally different 

 family. Mr. Swainsou next proceeds to inquire into flu 

 ie of so remarkable a variation in the bill of such closely- 

 united species. He first states that nearly the whole of the 

 seed-eating birds of Tropical America are composed of the 

 Tanagers, which, in those regions, supply the place of the 

 other finches so abundant in all parts of Kurope. The in 

 numerable small and bard fruit > produced in the America! 

 forests are, he observes, the appointed food of the Tanagers 

 the parrots living principally upon the larger nuts, and flu 

 bill of the former birds is constructed accordingly, 

 noticing the disparity of the bills in the fine-lies, taking th< 

 common linnet and the hawfinch for example, he remark 

 how little reliance can be placed on such diversity in de 

 tenniuing genera: but this. In will not explaii 



the great difference which often exists in the si/e am 

 plumage of species which all writers agree in arranging 

 within the limits of the same subgeiius: and he takes tin 

 restricted genus I'ltylu*. ' m example. Some 



the species of that genus are green, some black, other 

 ; and in size they vary from the dimensions of a spar 

 row to those of a small thrush. 



The doubt-> which, in Mr. Swain-on's opinion, bang ovc 

 the i of the views which he entertained with re 



spcct to the natural affinilii- of tin-, birds, may. 1 

 be said to binge almost entirely upon his not having beei 

 able to examine specimens of Frniffilln Xi'im, win. 

 certain peculiarities which lead him tocxpcct that it forms 

 the (ype of one of the principal divisions among the Tjma- 

 gern, or that it connects bis genus Aglum with I'ljnlln 

 On '.' i>o-ition. /'. Xfiiu would, accoidmg to Mr 



titntc the passage from the true sparrows 

 (.Pyrgita) to the subgenus Tanagia proper; while by the 



second, I'ijiilln would 



and 'I'tiii'iL'i':!, and thus constitute the rasoriaJ g> 



whole subfamily : and this latter arrangement 



lim to lie the natural one. II : the two 



\pical group- < .1 1'tnrm* 



vhile those which he thinks abe; 



ind J'i/,i//n. It was only between the 1\\, 



C had not as \i I aii\ affinit) sufficiently 



.tiong to justify the belie!' that the-. -in a 



iiele more or less complete : the difficulty being how to 



onnect A^Iiiui with 1'ijiilln. He then takes aicM. 



he genera, for which we must refer our readers to the work 

 lf: and. in the NV//O/.V/V at the end of the volume. 



nakes the TtiHiiariiin: which he ]>!aces between the'' 

 thrtHutiiiir and the t'rimfilliH,f. consist of the following 



genera and subgenera, all of which he c-hanu-teri/t s : 



Tun 



Sii/i/'iinii/i/ Chni-iifti'i-. Hill e(|Ually conic; the u 

 mandiliie more or le-s arched, und ver\ ili-tmetly not. 

 Ke.-t formed for ])crching. ' \d and fnily cir 



Genera. 



Tiirilirtiln, Titiinyrii with the subgenera 1'itylit*. 



. ami Kninjilnijii^'i. PhtPin^unn iwith the suligciieta 

 Pfugnitoma, Tncftyphonut, and l.i 

 ,-lgluin (with the subgenera /./// 

 And j'/iii//n with the siibgenus./r/v/' 

 of Hi, 



The I'rince of Canino (finds of Europe anil North. 



aces the 'I'liiKisrinii- between the /' 

 and the Em 1'yrnHL'H is the onh 



.iging to the Tii>iiii. r ''ifif. 



Mr. (i. K. Clray makes the T,i,i<rriiirt- the third 

 family of the FrinfiUidtr, arranging it between tin 

 cothrauittia>m<\ I'riiiaillintf. The following _ 

 enumerated by Mr. (riay a- belonging to the third 

 family: 



Em, . Tcmm. : Pipiln, Vieill. : l'.nil'i-ni<iyrit, 



I.es-. : Arri'iii<iii.\'\i'\\\.: ' -ill.: 1'iti/lit*. < 



'/'<I/KI am. Linn. : Siiltatnr. Vieill. : > 

 Selhy ; Rampfiopsit, Vieill. : /. 

 Vieiil. : I.'inin. Vieill. : TiH-hi/ii/iHinm, \ ieill. : 

 Vieill. ; Tninif:ri'//'i. Sw. : J'JI/I/K,H, : . IVsm. ; t 

 G. 11. Gray : Step/utnophorus, Stnc\d. : ('n 



Mr. Gray, with his usual industn, gives the niinn 

 synonyms of each genus. (List a'/ " "inl*, 



2nd edition, is, 



\Ve select Nuttall's description oft! 

 nr Jl/ar/i-i/'i/ufi-:! Sit/ii/iii-r lli'd-Jiinl, TH mi am riilirn. ' 

 ^subgenus Pi/run 



The male is scarlet-red, with the wings and notched tail 

 black : the base of the plumage is ash, then white, 

 female, young, and male in autumn, arc dull green, in- 

 clining to yellow in the latter: yellow beneath ; win: 

 tail il igth about -i\ niche- and a hal. 



ten' ten inches and a half. 



'This splendid and transient resident.' Mall, 



npnnying fine weather in all In- 



from his winter station in tiopieal A mci n a li .111 ' : 

 ginning to the middle of M 



N'uv a Scotia ;i> well asCanada. \Vith the -hy, 

 unsocial, and sn ilut- of lus gaudv fialernitv. he 



takes ii]) his abode in the deepest rece <- of the ; 

 where, timidly flitting from observation, he diirl- 

 to tree like a flashing me- ndy sylph, 



of his brilliance, and the expo-tire to which it sul 

 him, he seems to avoid remark, and is only solie 

 known to his humble mate, and bid from all beside. He 

 therefore rarely ; the habitations of .men. i 



|i< the skirts of the orchard, where 'line, 



-t. and tul, .!' the earl . 



inviting, though forbidden chei. 



Among the thick foliage of the tree in which be 

 suppoil and shelter, from the lolly brand 



his alnio-t monotonous l*hi].-ir'iti'r. />//.. 

 tthtkadtf, l.\hijhtiil/'t'. icpeated lit .-holt ii.ier\aN. aii. ; 

 pensive under-tone, heightened by the -olitnde in which 

 he iK light- to dwell. The ..nine note 1- a!-o uttered liy 

 the female when the heisclf and youni' i 



proiiched; and the male occasionally utters, in iccognitioii 

 to hi- mate, a.- they perambulate the brand, 

 whispering '/ml, in a tl '(ion and tenderncsvi. lint 



be-id'i 11 on the female, he has also, dining the 



period of his incubation, and tor a considerable time after. 



