TANAGERS. 



137 



primaries, of whicli the first is spurious, and a notch in the 

 bill. They are also crested, and in full plumage have curious 

 wax-like appendages to certain quills, "and sometimes the 

 tail-feathers " (pi. 1, figs. 10 and 11). They show an affinity 

 to the Flycatchers, in their eminent skill in fly-catching,^ as 

 occasionally displayed, and in their want of musical powers, 

 for, though absurdly called "chatterers," they are notably 

 silent birds. Moreover, " their tarsus is not strictly oscine." 

 They are gregarious. The common Cedar-bird may be taken 

 as a type. 



I. PIRANGA. 



A. EETTHEOMELA8. Scarlet Tanag&r. Though locally 

 distributed, a generally common summer resident in southern 

 New England.* 



Fig. 5. Scarlet Tanager. (i) 



a. About 7|- inches long. $, scarlet; wings and tail 

 black. 5 , olive green above ; below, (greenish) yellow. 



h. The nest is loosely constructed of straws, twigs, etc., 

 and is usually placed from ten to thirty feet above the ground. 



^ It IS to be remembered, however, 

 that the birds of many families are very 

 skillful in preying upon insects in the 

 air, scarcely less so than the true Fly- 

 catchers. 



* A snmmer resident of the whole 

 of Kew England, very common in most 



localities south of the northern border 

 of Massachusetts, but found only spar- 

 ingly and to some extent locally in the 

 coniferous forests of northern Maine, 

 New Hampshire, and Vermont. — W. 

 B. 



