THE



179



Bvtcultural /Hbagasme,


BEING THE JOURNAL OF THE


AVICULTURAL SOCIETY.



New Series. —VOL. III. —No. 6 .—All rights reserved. APRIL, 1905 .


THE ARCHBISHOP TANAGER.


Tanagra ornata.


By Arthur G. Butler, Ph.D., &c.


Although not so dazzling in colours as the species of the

genus Calliste, the forms of Tanagra are certainly quite as

beautiful, and the subject of the present article is by no means

one of the least attractive.


T. ornata is a native of South-Eastern Brazil, being

abundant in the woodlands of the central coastal tract, especially

at Bahia and its neighbourhood ; lives like all Tanagers near the

settlements, comes into gardens and is not very shy, according

to Burmeister. This appears to be all that has hitherto been

recorded respecting the wild life of the Archbishop Tanager;

but doubtless, like its congeners, it builds an open nest and lays

spotted eggs.


Late in the year 1903 the Rev. Hubert D. Astley wrote to

ask me to identify for him a pair of Tanagers which he had

purchased in Italy, and forwarded with his letter a hasty

coloured sketch which he had taken from the living birds in his

aviary. Not being able just then to run up to the Natural

History Museum, I tried to identify the birds from the key to the

genus Tanagra in the Museum Catalogue, being satisfied that

they must belong to that genus ; but as Mr. Astley had told me

that there was a bright emerald green metallic patch on the

shoulder of the wing, I concluded that his birds must either be

an aberrant variation of the Blue-shouldered Tanager, or brightly

coloured females of that species: in which conclusion I was

quite wrong.



