T A N A G E R. 



775 



half the top of the head, the breast, the belly, the 

 flanks, and the under coverts of the tail, deep and 

 brilliant yellow ; the quills black, with a white spot 

 at about a third of their length from the base ; tail- 

 feathers black, with a white spot on each of the two 

 lateral ones ; the bill and feet are black. The female is 

 brown upon these parts, which are black in the male, 

 and greenish where the male is yellow. It is a small 

 species, only four inches in length ; and it occurs abun- 

 dantly in Paraguay and also in Brazil. These are the 

 principal species of the bullfinch tanagers ; the most 

 familiar, the most musical, and in some respects the 

 most interesting of the whole. They are birds of 

 gentle and rather social dispositions, and are often 

 kept in cages, the beauty of their plumage making 

 some amends for the inferiority of their music ; and 

 they are perhaps the ones that have the nearest 

 resemblance to the females of Europe, though much 

 more gay than these in their plumage ; for though 

 our goldfinch is a finely-marked bird, it must yield 

 the palm of brilliance to the tanagers. 



GROSS-BEAK TANAGERS. These have the bill 

 conical, thick, arched, as wide as high, and rounded 

 in the culmen of the upper mandible. The species 

 differ in size, but they are, generally speaking, 

 larger birds than the members of the former subdi- 

 vision. Generally speaking, they have nothing that 

 can be considered as a song, and some of them are 

 remarkable for their silence. Several authors have 

 separated them from the tanagers ; but it seems more 

 convenient to retain the genus but with the subdi- 

 visions that have been enumerated. The name sal- 

 tator, or leaper, has been given to them, but not very 

 correctly ; as all the tanagers have a leaping and not 

 a walking gait, and they are not the only birds that 

 have it ; for it is, in fact, a character of a very con- 

 siderable number of the order, and the one from which 

 it gets the name Passeres. 



Black and White Tanager (T, melanoleuca). This 

 is a Guiana species, and about seven inches in length. 

 The upper parts are black, and there are two stripes 

 of the same colour which extend down the breast, the 

 ground of which, and the rest of the under parts, are 

 pure white : the upper part of the bill is black, and 

 the under part yellow ; and the feet are black. 



Yellow Tanager ( T. flav a}. The upper parts are 

 brownish-yellow ; the streak over the eyes and all the 

 under parts bright yellow ; the coverts of the wings 

 and the quills brown, with yellow margins ; the bill 

 black and the feet brown. It is rather a large spe- 

 cies, measuring eight inches in length. Found chiefly 

 in Paraguay. 



Lead-coloured Tanager ( T. ccendescd). Upper parts 

 leaden-grey, with a yellowish streak across tlie region 

 of the eye ; the rump and wing-coverts bluish-black ; 

 a black spot at each angle at the gape ; the under 

 parts reddish-white ; the bill and feet black. It is of 

 the same size as the preceding species, and found in 

 the same part of the country. 



Poppy-red Tanager ( T. purpuresca). The upper parts- 

 deep flame or fire-red, with some cloudings and reflec- 

 tions of a reddish-brown colour ; the quills are brown,, 

 bordered with very bright red; and the coverts of the 

 wings reddish-brown, margined with pure red ; the un- 

 der parts purple-red ; and the bill arid feet black. This 

 is a very showy species, a native of the same country 

 as the two preceding, but smaller in size, the length, 

 being seven inches. It must be borne in mind, however, 

 that when these birds are spoken of as inhabiting on 

 place of the warm portion of South Ana erica rather than. J 



another, all that is definitely stated is, that they have 

 been seen and described as natives in that particular 

 place ; however, notwithstanding that, they may be 

 equally numerous in other places. 



Silent Tanager (T. silentia}. This species is from 

 some part of South America, which is not absolutely 

 ascertained. It is six inches in length ; the upper 

 parts are also brown, with a band of bright grey, arid 

 one of white from the bill over the eye ; the breast 

 white, crossed by a broad band of black, and the rest 

 of the under part white, without any marking of other 

 colour ; the bill and feet are black. 



Russet-headed Tanager {T. ruficapilla). Upper 

 parts bluish-grey ; head, nape, and under parts russet- 

 brown ; forehead, space between the bill and the eye, 

 and middle of the belly, blackish-russet ; the quills 

 and tail-feathers black, clouded with bluish-grey ; 

 the bill and feet black ; the length seven inches. 



Olive-green Tanager (T. ol'wacca}. A large species, 

 eight inches in length, and very common in Guiana ; 

 but not so annoying on the plantations as the more 

 unusual tanagers ; the upper parts are deep olive- 

 green, with a white streak from the gape to the eye, 

 and a black one under it ; the chin white ; the throat 

 yellow, with a blackish band across ; the fore neck 

 and the under parts reddish-yellow, with the exception 

 of the under coverts of the tail, which are russet ; the 

 bill and feet are brown. 



TANAGERS, properly so called. These have the 

 bill conical, shorter than the head, equal in depth 

 and in breadth ; the upper mandible arched and 

 rather pointed. 



Archbishoj) Tanager (T. archiepiscopus'). This 

 species is very generally distributed, being found 

 both to the east and the west of the Andes, from 

 Brazil to the extremity of Peru ; but the height at 



Archevfique, male. 



which it has been met with on the mountains has not 

 been stated. The upper parts are olive-green ; the 

 head, neck, and breast, slate-blue, with violet reflec- 

 tions ; the rump and belly grey ; the quills and tail- 

 feathers blackish-brown, margined with yellowish- 

 green ; the lesser coverts of the wings are bright 

 golden-yellow, and the bill and feet black. The 

 length of the male bird is about seven inches. The 

 female is a little smaller, and has the upper part 

 brownish-grey, with green reflections ; and the under 

 part ash-colour, with reflections of violet. The other 

 markings are the same as in the male, only the tints 

 .are not so bright. 



