84 PYEANGA LUDOVICIANA, LOUISIANA TANA6ER. 



known. It has been more recently taken by Mr. Allen, in the mountains 

 of Colorado, from the plains up to about 8,000 feet. I found the bird in 

 the mountains of Arizona, where it was a rather rare summer resident 

 from the middle of April until the end of September ; and I have no 

 doubt that it breeds about Fort Whipple, although I did not succeed in 

 establishing the fact. The birds were exclusively confined to the pine 

 forests ; in their manners they appeared to me to closely resemble the 

 eastern species. Dr. Cooper noticed the arrival of this species near San 

 Diego, in small parties, on the 24th of April, and states that they reach 

 Puget Sound about May loth. "The males," he remarks, "come some 

 time in advance, clothed in their full summer livery, and are more bold 

 and conspicuous than the females, which are rarely seen without close 

 watching; They frequent trees, feeding on insects and berries, and sing- 

 ing much in the same manner as the other species." He continues : "I 

 saw none of them in the coast range toward Santa Cruz, or at Santa 

 Barbara, in summer, and suppose that they must seek the higher and 

 more northern regions at that season. I found this species in Septem- 

 ber, 1860, in the higher Rocky Mountains, near the sources of the Co- 

 lumbia, in latitude 47°, and they probably remain until October within 

 this State. * * » * i saw none along the Colorado Valley, proba- 

 bly because they migrate more on the line of the mountain ranges." 



Dr. George Suckley has given an interesting account : "The beautiful 

 Louisiana Tanager is quite abundant in certain seasons in the vicinity 

 of Fort Steilacoom. In 1854 but a limited number made their appear- 

 ance, while, on the contrary, in the summer of 1856, I could readily have 

 obtained a hundred specimens. I have had frequent opportunities of 

 studying their habits, and have never yet seen them descend to the low 

 bushes or the ground, as stated by Nuttall, the reverse being the rule 

 (;it least at Puget Sound) ; the difficulty being generally to find the bird 

 sufficiently low down on fir-tree branches to allow fine shot to reach it 

 with any degree of certainty. * * * * xhe favorite habitat of the 

 species, in those localities where I have observed it, is among the tall, 

 red fir-trees belonging to that magnificent species, the Abies douglasii. 

 They seemingly prefer the edges of the forest, rarely retiring to its 

 depths unless for concealment when alarmed. In early summer, at Fort 

 Steilacoom, they are generally seen during the middle of the day sun- 

 ning themselves in the firs, occasionally darting from one of these trees 

 to another, or to some of the neighboring white-oaks (Q. garryana) on 

 the prairies. Later in the season they may be seen very actively flying 

 about in quest of insect food for their young. On July 10, 1856, I saw 

 one of these birds carrying a worm or insect in its mouth, from which I 

 inferred that the young were then hatched out. Both sexes, during the 

 breeding season, are much less shy ; the males, during the day-time, fre- 

 quently sitting on some low limb, rendering the scene joyous with their 

 delightful melody." 



The stomach of a specimen examined by Dr. Suckley contained in- 

 sects, principally Goleoptera, among them many fragments of a large 

 Bvprestis, found generally on the Douglas fir-trees. 



Mr. Allen writes to me, that "the Louisiana Tanager is the only rep- 

 resentative of the Tanagridce I observed at any point west of Eastern 

 Kansas. In Colorado it occurs from the plains uj) to about 8,000 feet in 

 the mountains, about the base of which it may be regarded as a rather 

 common species. In song and general habits it strikingly resembles the 

 Scarlet Tanager of the East, its song, in fact, being scarcely distinguish- 

 a ble from that of the eastern bird." 



A set of eggs takevQJQjf^^j^^^^y^jff^ms, July 7, 1869, by Mr. 



