202 PASSERES: Perching Birds 



LARK BUNTING 



(605. Calamospiza melanocorys) 7| in. 



Male, summer: Black, with large white wing-patch; tertials 

 broadly edged with white and tail-tip white-marked. This dress 

 is assumed in April, as the birds are leaving for their breeding- 

 ground. Winter: Brown above; under parts black basally, but, 

 except chin, obscured by gray tips which are lost through wear. 



Female: Gray-brown above, dusky-streaked; white below, 

 brown-streaked sides and breast. 



Ground-feeders exclusively. They have an interesting habit 

 of singing in chorus. 



FAMILY TANAGERS 



A small family of highly colored birds, mostly red or yellow, 

 closely related to Fringillidse. Bill longer, characterized by a 

 tooth in the upper mandible. Only four species occur in the 

 United States. 



WESTERN TANAGER 



(607. Piranga ludoviciana) 1\ in. 



Male: Head light red; body deep yellow, with black back, 

 wings, and tail; two yellow wing-bars. 



Female: Olive-green above; greenish yellow below; wings and 

 tail brownish or dusky; wings yellowish-barred. (Quite similar 

 to female Cooper and Hepatic.) 



HEPATIC TANAGER 



(609. Piranga hepatica) 7| in. 



Male: Dull red above, back gray- washed; crown and all under 

 parts vermilion. No crest. 



Female: Grayish olive above; crown and tail greenish; olive- 

 yellow below. 



In the field both sexes of the Hepatic Tanager resemble those 

 of the Cooper. Note different habitat: one a mountain bird, 

 the other a dweller of hot, low valleys. 



