THE SCARLET TANAGER 25 



the flaming scarlet feathers that render her mate 

 so handsome. 



Southern readers will know also another kind 

 of tanager, not red and black, but red all over. 

 He, too, is a great beauty, although if the ques- 

 tion were left to me, I could not give him the 

 palm over his more northern relative. The red 

 of the southern bird is of a different shade 

 — " rose-red " or " vermilion," the books call 

 it. He sings like the scarlet tanager, but in a 

 smoother voice. Although he is a red bird, he 

 is not to be confounded with the southern red- 

 bird. The latter, better known as the cardinal 

 grosbeak, is a thick-billed bird of the sparrow and 

 finch family. He is frequently seen in cages, 

 and is a royal whistler. 



The scarlet tanager — the male in red and 

 black plumage — is not to be mistaken for any- 

 thing else in the Eastern States. Once see him, 

 and you will always know him. For that reason 

 he is an excellent subject for the beginner. He 

 passes the winter in Central or South America, 

 and returns to New England in the second week 

 of May. He makes his appearance in full dress, 

 but later in the season changes it for one resem- 

 bling pretty closely the duller plumage of his 

 mate. 



