////; SCARLET TAXAflKlt. 177 



THE SCARLET TANAGER. 



THIS magnificently coated visitor is perhaps best known from being seen 

 mounted in the taxidermist's shop, or as a striking ornament on an expensive hat. 

 He is the most handsomely plurnaged bird which inhabits our woods. Always 

 extremely shy, it is a difficult matter, even for the most experienced bird-trappers, to 

 catch him. His gaudy feathers, his own worst enemy, make him a bird much 

 sought for as an addition to the aviary. It is asserted by some authors, that he is a 

 difficult bird to keep alive in captivity ; but my own experience is, that, if proper 

 care and food are given, he will live a strong and vigorous bird many years. 



The male Tanager is about seven inches in length. The whole body and head 

 are of a deep, brilliant scarlet, and the wings and tail a beautiful velvet black, 

 making a striking and elegant contrast. The female's colors are very unlike the 

 male's, being green in the upper part of the body, and yellow below : the wings and 

 tail are brownish black, tipped with green. 



Tanagers first make their appearance among us early in May, and migrate 

 South as early as August, making the shortest call of any of our visitors. As soon 

 as the male is ready to depart for his winter home, he changes his showy coat for a 

 more sombre-colored travelling-dress, which renders him less liable to the attacks of 

 the beauty-loving bird-fancier. His plumage changes to a greenish-yellow color 

 almost resembling that of the female. 



It is a matter of discussion among leading naturalists whether the Tanager 

 which regularly visits us is a native of Brazil. Wilson asserts that he is not. I am 

 of the opinion that he is. 



If he cannot lay claim to being the king of American songsters, he certainly can 

 to being king of American beauties. His colors, as seen among the bright green 

 leaves of our forests, certainly form one of the most attractive sights of rural 

 scenery. 



His song, although unpretending, is not unpleasant. He combines the mellow- 

 ness of the Oriole's notes with a simple, pleasing note of his own, repeated at short 

 intervals. It is sung in a manner after that of a ventriloquist ; for, although he may 

 be at a considerable distance from you, the notes appear as though coming from a 

 point directly above. This is. no doubt, a power bestowed on him as a protection 

 from the danger to which his brilliant colors expose him. 



He is a bird which is highly prized in France, a country noted for its preference 

 for gaudy-colored birds ; and hundreds of them are annually exported thither. He 

 is a very shy bird in his native state, rarely approaching a human habitation, and 

 very quiet and inoffensive in his manners. 



