T AXAGPJD.E . — CLXVIII. 291 



496. CALAMOSPIZA Bonaparte. ( K dXa/xo?, reed ; cnrifa.) 



938. C. melanocorys Stejneger. Lark Bunting. White 

 Wing Blackbird, g black, with a large white wing-patch and 

 white on quills; 9 streaky, like the 9 bobolink, known by the 

 whitish wing-patch and long tertials. L. 61. W. 31. T. 2|. 

 Western plains, occasional E. (/icAaj, black ; Kopvs, helmet.) 



Family CLXVIII. TANAGRID^J. (The Tanagers.) 



Primaries 9 ; bill usually conical, sometimes depressed or atten- 

 uate, the culmen curved ; cutting edges not much inflected, some- 

 times toothed, notched or serrated ; tarsus scutellate ; legs short ; 

 claws long. Colors usually brilliant. A large family of more than 

 300 species, confined to the warmer parts of America, and embra- 

 cing a wide diversity of forms. Some have slender bills and are 

 scarcely distinguishable from the Warblers, and might well be re- 

 ferred to the same family. Others, like our Piranga, have stout 

 conical bills, and are equally closely related to the Finches. 



a. Bill stout, finch-like, considerably longer than broad, and more or less evi- 

 dently tcothed or lobed near middle of upper mandible. Piranga, 407. 



497. PIRANGA Vieillot. (S. Am. name.) 



939. P. rubra (L.). Summer Red Bird. £ bright rose red 

 throughout ; wings a little dusky ; 9 dull brownish olive, dull yel- 

 lowish below; no wing bars; bill and feet paler than in the Scarlet 

 Tanager ; size the same. E. U. S., chiefly S. ; X. to X. J. and 111. ; 

 abundant. (Lat., red.) 



940. P. erythromelas Vieillot. Scarlet Tanager. $ bril- 

 liant scarlet ; wings and tail black ; no wing bars ; 9 clear olive 

 green; clear greenish yellow below. L. 71. W. 4. T. 3. E. 

 N. Am., abundant in woodland ; a most beautiful bird and a 

 respectable songster, (tpvdpos, red ; peXas, black.) 



Family CLXIX. HIRUNDINID^J. (The Swallows.) 



Primaries 9, the first being obsolete ; bill " fissirostral," i. e., 

 short, broad, triangular, depressed, the gape wide and about 

 twice as long as the culmen, reaching to about opposite the eyes, 

 similar in its form to that of the Swifts and the Goatsuckers, with 

 which birds the Swallows have no real affinity. Rictus without 

 bristles ; wings very long and pointed, the first primary usually 

 longest, and twice as long as the last; secondaries very short. 

 Tail more or less forked. Feet weak; tarsus scutellate, shorter 

 than middle toe and claw. Plumage compact, and more or less 

 lustrous. 



A very natural family of about 100 species, found in all parts of 



