TANAGKIDJ: — THE TANA(ii:US. 443 



Tliis species is saitl l»y Mr. Salviii to enjoy ;ni almost universal rauLCe 

 tliruiighuut (liuiteiaala. It orciirreil in I )('('t'Hil>er at the inoiitli of the llio 

 Dulee, in the i)ine ridi^es iiuar (Juisimui, ami along the whole njad troni Isa- 

 bel to Guateniahi, a ilistanee of eighty leagues. 



Mr. C. W. Wyatt met with these hirds also, iu all varieties of jdumage, 

 throughout Colombia, South America, at llerradura, ('«»euta Valley, and 

 Canta. Mr. lioueard obtained them at IMaza \'ieente, Mexico. Dr. Wood- 

 house observed this sjtecies throughout the Indian Territory, Texas, and New 

 Mexico, where it seemed solitary in its habits, fre(|uenting the thick scrubby 

 timber. It has been known to breed at various ]>oints in Florida, (leorgia^ 

 South Carolina, Lcaiisiana, and Texas. To the northward it breeds more or 

 less abundantly, as far as Washington, I). C, on the east, and Southern Illi- 

 nois and Kansas on the west, being nnuh more common in the ^lississippi 

 Valley than in the States on the Atlantic in the same parallel (tf latitude. 



Mr. Dresser found it ([uite common about San Antonio, Texas, during the 

 sunnner season, arriving there al)out the middle of April, which is just about 

 the ])eriod at which the three specimens were taken near Ijoston. It is com- 

 paratively rare in rennsylvania, though abundant in the southern counties 

 of Xew Jersey, and in Delaware, K.Lstern ^laryland, and Virginia. It is 

 also abundant in the Carolinas, in (leorgia, Fhtrida, and the Gulf States. 



Wilson, in describing the nest and eggs of this species, has evidently con- 

 founded them and some of their habits with those of the Blue (Jrosbeak. 

 Tludr eirgs are not linht-blue, nor are the nests, so far as I know, as described 

 by him. Audubon and Xuttall eo])y substantially his errors. 



The food of this s]»ecies during the spring and early summer is chiefly 

 various kinds of large coleoi)terous insects, bees, was])S, and others. Later in 

 the season, when whortleberries are rii)e, they feed chiefly on these and other 

 small fruit. In taking its food it rarely alights on the ground, but prefers to 

 capture its insects w^hile on the wing. 



The usual note v)f this bird, which Mr. Audubon proncumces unmusical, 

 resembles the sounos " rli irhf-rh nrki/-rh nrir The same writer states that dur- 

 ing the spring this bird sings pleasantly for nearly half an hour in succession, 

 that its song resembles that of the lied-eyed Vireo, and that its notes are 

 sweeter and more varied and nearly equal to those of the Orchard Oriole. 



The late Dr. Gerhardt of Varnell's Station, in Northern Georgia, informed 

 me that these birds are quite common in that section of countr}'. The nest 

 is usually built on one of the lower limbs of a post-oak, or in a pine sapling, 

 at a heidit of from six to twenty feet. They are usually constructed toward 

 the extremity of the limb, and so far from the trunk as to be very difficult of 

 access. They are generally built from the middle to the end of May. The 

 egixs are four in number. 



In Southern Illinois, according tn ;Mr. Ridgway, the Summer Redbird 

 arrives about the 20th of April, staying until the last of September. It is 

 more abundant than tlie Scarlet Tanager, and much less retiring in its habits. 



