HABITS OF THE CRIMSON-HEADED TANAGER 363 



fine vegetable rootlets ". Such description of the nidification 

 shows that the nesting is quite the same as that of the Scarlet 

 Tanager. A set of eggs collected by Mr. Eidgway, and exam- 

 ined by me in the National Museum, differs noticeably from those 

 of other Tanagers of this genus, the ground-color being much 

 clearer green, and more sparingly marked by mere dots of very 

 dark purplish-brown. A few points appear over the whole sur- 

 face, but the tendency of the markings is to aggregate at the 

 larger end, where the spots nevertheless remain perfectly dis- 

 tinct, though so numerous. In size and shape, these eggs are 

 not very different from those of P. rubra, though appearing 

 rather more rounded if not actually larger. Dr. Brewer's mea- 

 surements give a length of 0.95, with a greatest breadth of 

 0.66 j eggs of P. rubra, he states^ range from 0.90 to 1.00 in 

 length, with an average diameter of 0.65. The number of eggs 

 laid by the Louisiana Tanager is said by the same author to 

 be usually three ; but as the number of instances from which 

 this average is deduced is not stated, we are free to infer that 

 the clutch may ordinarily consist of four or five eggs, as is the 

 cape with the Scarlet Tanager. 



Thus it seems to be established that the habits and manners 

 of the Louisiana Tanager differ in no wise from those of the 

 Scarlet Tanager, and that its singing and nesting are much the 

 same, though there may be some peculiarity of its call-note, 

 and though the eggs, to judge from the few that have fallen 

 under the notice of naturalists, are recognizably different. It 

 is scarcely necessary, therefore, to add my own experiences with 

 this bird : these would only confirm the conclusions drawn from 

 what has gone before. But in closing another chapter of the 

 " Birds of the Colorado Basin" a work that has haunted and 

 besought me for a decade of years, since the destruction of my 

 old Arizona manuscripts, as a spirit that would not be laid, and 

 is now become embodied I am happy to recall, with something 

 of its early freshness, the picture of this brilliant bird, set in 

 the sad-hued foliage of the pine trees, just as a sunny spot 

 breaks here and there amongst the closely-crowded memories 

 of a sombre past. 



