THE TANAGERS. 391 



months. It is most frequently found in the neighborhood of the sea-coast 

 or its large marshes, and in large tracts of level, dry, weedy pastures and 

 fields. 



Wiiilc with us, it flics in loose, detaclicd flocks, in a jerking, irregular 

 sort of flight, uttering occasionally its feeble, lisping (luect qnvet. It seems 

 always busily employed, either on the bcacii, in gatliering the small shell- 

 fish and animalcules thrown up by tlic tide, or in pastures and stubble- 

 fields, in gleaning the seeds of weeds and grasses. It also feeds upon 

 spiders, and such insects as it is able to find in tlie dead grass and weeds. 



Tiiis species breeds in the most northern parts of the continent. Nuttall 

 says the " nest is built in the fissures of cliffs, is composed of dry grass and 

 a little moss, and lined witli finer blades of tiie former, and a few long hairs. 

 The e""s are four or five in number, of a sullicd-white color, and covered 

 with small brown s^JOts, collected chiefly towards the larger end." 



Family TAXACniD.r.. Taxageks, axd Warblers. 



In this group arc included the tSi//rico/ina', the American AVarblers, dis- 

 tinguished by the slender subulate bill, and tlie Tinirir/ruuc (the Tanagers 

 proper), ciiaracterized by their thick, more or less conic, bill, which is 

 sometimes dilated at base : both of these sub-families are restricted to the 

 New World. 



The American Warblers, comprehended in Gray's genera in the genus 

 MnioliUa, but now distributed among several genera, Dendroica, Panda, 

 Gcollihjpls, Ilchninthophac/a, &c., arc tluis characterized : "The species of 

 this division are found, in conseriuencc of tiicir migratory habits, in various 

 parts of the vast continent of America and its adjacent islands. Tliey are 

 usually observed on trees or in h>w thickets, especially those near rivers or 

 lakes, actively engaged in examining the bark of tiic trunk and branches, 

 and the leaves of trees, for spiders and various insects, which constitute 

 their food, both in the perfect and imperfect' states. As soon as they have 

 finished their examination of one bush or tree, they pass, by a short active 

 flight, to another, which undergoes the same scrutiny ; and some species are 

 seen flying about the upper branches of the trees, feeding on tlie small dip- 

 terous insects that frequent sucli localities, taking them while on the wing. 

 At other times tlicse birds feed sparely on small berries. The nest is gen- 

 erally formed near or on the ground, in a bush, or in the fork of a tree, of 

 grass, sometimes very compactly woven together, and lined with hair and 

 down, in which the female lays from four to six eggs." 



Of these birds there are upwards of one hundred and thirty species. They 

 are of graceful motions, neat and symmetrical form, and many of them are 

 possessed of most elegant plumage, surpassing most birds in this respect. 



