774 



T A N A G E R. 



or family in an especial manner. But, generally 

 speaking, there are times of the year at which those 

 wild supplies are exhausted ; and at these times the 

 birds resort to the plantations in great numbers, and 

 do considerable damage." 



In a popular sketch it would be impossible to enter 

 into the details of so very numerous a race of birds as 

 the tanagers ; and though our limits would admit of it, 

 it would be only a repetition of matters substantially 

 the same, and varying only in very minute particu- 

 lars. Those who wish to obtain detailed (museum) 

 accounts of these and the other gaily coloured birds of 

 tropical America, may consult Desmarest's " Natural 

 History of Tanagers, Manikins, and Todies," pub- 

 lished at Paris in 1805, in one volume folio. We 

 must content ourselves with merely noticing one or 

 two of each of the subdivisions into which they are 

 divided by Cuvier. There are, 1. Bullfinch tanagers ; 

 2. Grossbeak tanagers ; 3. Tanagers properly so 

 called ; 4. Oriole tanagers ; 5. Cardinal tanagers ; 

 and 6. Swelled-billed tanagers. 



BULLFINCH TANAGERS. These are also called 

 Euphonous tanagers, because they are the chief or 

 the only ones that have any noise or notes worthy of 

 being called a song. Their leading characters are : 

 the bill short, and exhibiting, when seen from above, 

 an enlargement at each side of the base ; and their 

 tails are also shorter in proportion than those of the 

 other subdivisions. These are among the most com- 

 pact birds of the genus ; and some of them are the 

 most frequent and annoying visitants of the neigh- 

 bourhood of barns, where they often make the people 

 " pay too much for their whistle." 



Organist Tanager (T. musica). This species is 

 abundant in many of the West India islands, especially 

 in Haiti, of the natural history of which we had tole- 

 rable accounts from the French, before it was expunged 



Euphone Organiste, male. 



from the catalogue of civilised countries by coming 

 into the possession of the blacks, morally and intel- 

 lectually depraved as they were by having been in 

 that state of abominable slavery which has long been 

 the withering blight of so many of the finest portions 

 of the western world. We do not arraign the retri- 

 butive justice which put that finest of all the West 

 India islands in the possession of these people; but 

 every one must deplore the circumstance of their 

 getting it before they were capable of treating it pro- 

 perly, by which means the garden of the western 

 world has been converted into a tangled and unpro- 

 fitable wilderness. The bird in question comes near 



houses, and though its song cannot be considered a 

 fine one as compared with that of the more choice 

 songsters of the eastern world ; it has a good deal of 

 compass and variety. It is a small bird, the total 

 length being about four inches ; but as the tail is 

 short, the body is long in proportion. The top of 

 the head, the hind head, and the upper part of the 

 neck are blue, with a black margin on each side ; the 

 quills and tail-feathers are black, with rich reflections 

 of blue ; the forehead, the rump, and all the under 

 parts of the body are yellow ; and the bill and feet 

 are black. The female has the upper parts greenish- 

 ash, and the upper part of the neck pale bluish-grey. 

 It is an active and merry little bird, and shifts its 

 positions on the trees with so much adroitriese, 

 that it is caught or killed with considerable difficulty. 



Crested Tanager (T. diademata). This is a Brazilian 

 species, or, at all events, it is known but as a native 

 of that part of South America. It is a very handsome 

 bird, and, among tanagers, it is one of considerable 

 size, the length being six inches and a half. The 

 upper parts are very brilliant blue, and the under 

 ones the same colour, but considerably darker in the 

 shade ; around the base of the bill is deep velvet 

 black; the back part of the head is covered with a 

 fine cape of pure white feathers, in advance of which 

 there is a tuft of silky feathers of a bright flame 

 colour ; the quills are black, margined with blue, and 

 tipped with brown ; the tail-feathers are also black, 

 bordered with blue, but without any brown on the 

 tips ; the bill and feet are greyish-black. 



Onglet Tanager (T. striata). Buffon gave this 

 species the fanciful name of " Onglet," or ingrooved, 

 from a little groove in the outside of each of the 

 claws, which is not, however, connected with any 

 known habit or peculiar mode of action in the bird. 

 The upper parts are black ; the head, the upper part 

 of the hind neck, and the middle and lesser coverts 

 of the wings, azure-blue, but with the roots of the 

 feathers on the latter black ; the breast and rump are 

 orange-yellow ; the tail-feathers greenish-black ; the 

 belly yellow ; the bill black above and whitish below. 

 The female is brown on the upper part, with the head 

 and the lesser coverts of the wings mottled and 

 streaked with blue and white ; the quills and tail- 

 feathers blackish ; the fore neck reddish-brown, and 

 the rest of the under part clear brown ; the length, 

 when full-grown, is about seven inches. This is a 

 very handsome and familiar species, abundant in 

 Paraguay, and well known from the proneness which 

 it has to come about gardens and houses ; but it is 

 rather a pest to the inhabitants by destroying vast 

 quantities of the seeds^of their leguminous plants, 

 and also ot their fruits. The epithet striata, which 

 has been adopted as the specific name of this bird, is 

 derived from the blue and white on the female, and 

 not from any markings on the male bird. Indeed, 

 the colours on the males of almost the whole of the 

 genus are as remarkable for being entire, as they are 

 for the brightness of their tints. It is probable that 

 Latham, who applied the name, had seen the female, 

 and described it as a species before he had any know- 

 ledge of the male. Other birds have sometimes 

 been very awkwardly named in the same way. 



Greenish Tanager (T. chlorotica). This is another 

 one, of which the name has apparently been given 

 from the female, and if there is any misapplication, 

 Buffon stands charged with it. The upper parts of 

 the male bird are brilliant -violet-black ; the forehead, 



