THE YOUNG ORNITHOLOGIST. 



;t has passed the whiter seasons, to 

 enliven the Canadian wilderness with 

 its presence and its song. The male 

 Tanager first makes his advent ; and for 

 some time after his return he may be 

 seen in companj^ with other birds in the 

 fields bordering the woods, where he 

 comes to feed on the uncovered grain ; 

 but being of a shy disposition and 

 retired habits, he, as soon as his 

 more suitable food becomes abundant 

 in more concealed places, retires into 

 the depths of the woods or the 

 tops of the trees, where, during 

 summer months, though his song 

 notes are often heard, he is not fre- 

 quently seen. 



Occasionally he may be seen in large 

 orchards in quest of small ripe fruit, 

 but as soon as the demands of hunger 

 are satisfied he again retires to the 

 friendly shelter of the woods. The 

 song of the Tanager somewhat resem- 

 bles that of the robin, but though me" 

 lodious, is warbled in a low tone. 

 This song is heard at intervals dur- 

 ing the summer months, aud gener- 

 ally from an elevated position among 

 the tree-tops. His more common 

 notes, at the nesting period, of "Chip- 

 beard," are often heard while his per- 

 son is concealed from observation 

 among the thick foliage surrounding 

 or overshadowing the place which the 

 female may have selected for her nest. 

 These notes seem to come from a dis- 

 tance, though the author may be in 

 the immediate vicinity, a faculty be- 

 stowed on him by the beneficentAuthor 

 of Nature no doubt for his protection 

 to compensate in a degree for the dan- 

 ger to which his brilliant color so often 

 exposes him. The Scarlet Tanager is 

 about seven inches in length ; the fe- 



male is somewhat less. Her plumage 

 is olive-green above, and of an ashen 

 gray beneath, the thighs and tail be- 

 ing light black. She is yet more re- 

 tired in her habits even than her more 

 beautiful companion, and is seldom 

 seen in his company except in the 

 vicinity of her nest. She is strong- 

 ly attached to her eggs and young, 

 and when they are approached evinces 

 much distress and strong maternal 

 affection. The nest of the Tanager 

 is generally placed in the fork of a 

 small tree, or on a horizontal branch, 

 usually not high off the ground. It is 

 formed of small bramble stalks, of dead 

 weeds, and lined with fine rootlets. The 

 eggs, from three to five in the set, are of 

 a light bluish-green hue, mottled with 

 brownish spots. The manners of the 

 Tanager are retired, easy and inof- 

 fensive. It arrives in the woods of 

 central Ontario towards the latter 

 part of May, and departs in the early 

 part of September. 



Wm. L. Kells, 



Listowel, Ont. 



THE YELLOW-WINGED SPAR- 

 ROW. 



This little bird clothed in its modest 

 coat of gray and yellow is an inhab- 

 itant of our vast prairies, though not 

 entirely confined to the unsettled parts, 

 but is a common bird about the past- 

 ures and haylands and is not at all shy, 

 you may often pass within five feet of 

 where one is contentedly seated on a 

 post, wire, ''or fence stake. 



They come back 'in the spring to 

 their old haunts quite early as was made 

 known to me last spring. One morn- 

 ing on (April 2ud) I was out (quite 



