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Genus Piranga. Tanagers. 



608. Scarlet Tanager. RED BIRD. FIRE BIRD. WAR BIRD. FR. LE TANGARA 

 ECARLATE. Piranga erythromelas. L, 7-25. Plate XXXV A. 



Distinctions. Excepting the next species, the Summer Tanager, the Scarlet Tanager 

 is comparable only with the Cardinal, but it is easily recognized by its lack of crest, slighter 

 and longer bill, and black wings and tail. The even green of the female is distinctive, 

 being approached only by a few much smaller Warblers and the Orioles. The autumn 

 male is like the female, but with black wings and tail. 



Field Marks. Brilliant scarlet colour, with black wings and tail in the male and 

 the even green coloration and size in other plumages. 



Nesting. Usually near the extremity of a branch, about 20 feet above the ground, 

 in nest of leaves, strips of bark, etc. 



Distribution. Eastern America north to near the limit of settlement. 



The Scarlet Tanager shows remarkable seasonal and sexual plumage 

 changes. In the spring the sexes are so entirely different that one wonders 

 at their specific relationship, and in the summer the brilliant scarlet male 

 gradually assumes the dull green of his mate. 



The Scarlet Tanager is a bird of light woodlands, where large timber 

 grows with a sprinkling of small underbrush below, but in spring it occasion- 

 ally visits the orchard. On arrival in spring the Scarlet Tanager is a most 

 conspicuous object, but as the trees put on their leaves it becomes cautious 

 in exposing itself and if it were not for its distinctive note "Chip-chur" that 

 attracts attention it would be most difficult to find. The song is 

 cheerful, rythmical, and fairly sustained, something like a robin's but more 

 connected and not quite so clear. 



Economic Status. The food of the Scarlet Tanager consists mostly of 

 insects and fruit. The insects are mostly woodland species and their 

 destruction is of importance to the forester and fruit grower. The fruit 

 eaten is mostly wild, in fact most birds prefer wild to domestic fruit and, 

 given an abundance of the former, seldom eat the latter. The Scarlet 

 Tanager does no serious damage. 



610. Summer Tanager. SUMMER RED-BIRD. FR. LE TANGARA VERMILLON. Piran- 

 ga rubra. L, 7 50. Much like the Scarlet Tanager, but with red instead of black tail, and 

 dull brownish wings edged and tinged with red; the females bear the same relation to the 

 male as do those of the Scarlet Tanager. 



Distinctions. The wings and tail are different from those of the Scarlet Tanager and 

 the red is more rose-coloured, less brilliant and lighter below than on the back. The 

 female is a warm orange-green of a quite different shade from the cold greenish of the allied 

 female of the Scarlet Tanager. She bears a fairly close resemblance to the female 

 Baltimore Oriole, but the evenly coloured, unmarked back and wings and the Tanager 

 bill make separation easy. 



Distribution. Southeastern United States and north to the latitude of southern 

 Ohio. Has been recorded in Canada near the southern boundary along the lower Great 

 Lakes and in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. 



The Summer Tanager is an accidental straggler in Canada, from the 

 south, along the lower Great Lakes and in Nova Scotia and New Bruns- 

 wick. 



