136 Contributions from the Charleston Museum. 



Massachusetts, December 5, 1877, by Mr. N. Vickary 1 and at 

 Montauk Point, Long Island, New York, September 4.* 



FAMILY TANGARID.E: TANAGERS. 



231. Piranga erythromelas Vieillot. Scarlet Tanager. 



Audubon says of this species in Birds of America: 3 



My friend Dr. Bachman informs me that they are seldom met with in the 

 maritime districts of South Carolina; and that there they follow the mountain 

 range as it were for a guide. 



That this exquisite species is excessively rare in the maritime 

 districts is proven by the fact that during the past twenty-five 

 years I have seen but two birds, one of which, an adult male, 

 I secured on April 30, 1889, on Oakland plantation near Mount 

 Pleasant, and the other, also an adult male, I observed on the 

 plantation of Mr. F. W. Hey ward, near Oakley, on April 29, 1884. 

 My friend Mr. Herbert Ravenel Sass informs me that he observed 

 two males in his garden in Charleston; the first on May 3, 1905 

 and the second on April 29, 1908. 



The Scarlet Tanager breeds in the mountains of South Carolina, 

 northward to Ontario and Manitoba, and winters in northern 

 South America. 



232. Piranga rubra (Linn.). Summer Tanager; Summer 

 Redbird. 



The Summer Redbird is an abundant spring, summer and au- 

 tumn resident. The birds arrive with great regularity in the 

 spring and I herewith give three dates upon which the first ones 

 have been observed, namely — March 31, 1896, April 5, 1897, and 

 April 4, 1902. My latest autumn record is September 23, 1884, 

 and this date represents the limit of their sojourn in the fall. 4 



This species prefers open pine woods with an undergrowth of 

 scrubby oaks and small hickory trees in which to breed. The 

 birds breed much earlier now than they did twenty years ago as 

 the following record will show: May 22, 1884, eggs fresh; May 

 22, 1886, four eggs, small embryos; May 28, 1886, three eggs, 

 slightly incubated; May 30, 1886, three eggs, slightly incubated; 

 May 21, 1890, Yemassee, four fresh eggs — saw both male and 



i Allen, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club. Ill, 1878, 48. ' Evans, Auk, VI, 1889, 192. • III, 227. 



* The Charleston Museum has the following records for this species later than those 

 given in the text: September 24 and 25, 1908, Mr. H. R. Sass; September 27, 1907, 

 Mr. F. M. Weston, Jr.— Ed. 



