146 BIRDS THROUGH AN OPERA-GLASS. 



XLII. 



SCARLET TANAGEK. 



LIKE the vireos, the scarlet tanager is asso- 

 ciated with green tree tops ; but if you ask just 

 where you will see him, it is hard to answer. In 

 Northampton, I remember finding him in three 

 quite dissimilar spots. 



The bird of Paradise has become a familiar 

 sight in our museums, but the good people of 

 Northampton follow Dante and see " Paradise " 

 itself before they die. " Purgatory " is there, 

 too, for warning, and the river runs between the 

 two abodes ! They lie just outside the town, and 

 if you could get some kindly spirit to guide you, 

 they would surely seem well named. 



" Purgatory " lies barren and desolate, strewn 

 with sand and stones on which the sun beats 

 down as if with intent to torture imprisoned 

 souls. Opposite stands "Paradise," a wood of 

 wondrous beauty, a true elysium for the im- 

 mortal spirits of birds and flowers ! In its heart 

 is a grove of musical pines, whose brown, pine- 

 needle carpet is garlanded with clumps of ferns. 

 Close to the river's edge, reaching their branches 

 low over it as it narrows to a stream, the maples 

 and birches offer cool green shade when the sun 

 is parching the banks of " Purgatory " ; and in 

 autumn, when the bare sand and stones grow cold, 



