158 BIRDS OF OHIO. 



fruit. I have seen it cutting the tender buds from elm trees 

 and eating them. It is not injurious in any way, and is of 

 considerable service to the farmer. 



The Scarlet Tanager reaches Ohio about the first of May, 

 frequently earlier, and returns to the south late in Sep- 

 tember. 



219. (610.) PIRANGA RUBRA (Linn.). 83. 

 Summer Tanager. 



Synonyms: Pyranga sestiva, Tanagra aestiva, Fringilla rubra. 

 Summer Redbird, Rose Tanager, Red Bee-bird, Flaxbird, 



Redbird, Mississippi Tanager, Variegated Tanager. 

 Audubon, Orn. Biog., I, 1831, 232. 



The distribution of this southern species in our state is 

 rather remarkable. It is found in Trumbull, Portage and 

 Columbiana counties in the east, but does not go beyond 

 Franklin in the center nor Montgomery in the west, except 

 casually. It thus appears to remain close to the Ohio river 

 or its main tributaries. Its northeast range appears to be due 

 to a recent movement, since Dr. Wheaton says nothing about 

 it. There is no direct evidence, except the northeast move- 

 ment, that its range is being much extended. No doubt 

 there will be records of individuals from further north, as 

 our activity in field work increases, but any considerable ex- 

 tension of its range in the next half century does not seem 

 likely. 



The deep ravines and gorges of the southeastern and 

 southern parts of the state seem to be the favorite abiding 

 places of this not very brilliant tanager. During a boating 

 trip down the Muskingum and Ohio rivers, from Zanes- 

 ville to Ironton, with my friend and fellow bird student, 

 Rev. William Leon Dawson, during August of 1902, we 

 found these birds at almost every stop below Marietta. 

 They are not uncommon about McConnellsville, where 

 Messrs. C. H. Morris and E. J. Arrick have found them 

 nesting, but we were not fortunate in finding them during 

 our stay there. Mr. Arrick well described the peculiar call 

 note, which was often heard along the Ohio river, by the 



