408 



NESTS AND EGOS OF 



608. 



SCARLET TANAGER. Piranga erythromelas Vieill. Geog. Dist— 

 Eastern United States north to Southern 

 Canada, "west to the Great Plains, south 

 in winter to the West Indies, Central America 

 and Northern South America. 



The male Scarlet Tanager is one of the most 

 brilliant and striking of all our birds. From its 

 black wings resembling pockets it is frequently- 

 called "Pocket-bird." The female is plain olive- 

 green. Breeds as far north as Southern Canada 

 and west to Eastern Kansas, south to South 

 Carolina and Texas. It inhabits woodlands and 

 is particularly fond of swampy places. The 

 breeding season begins in the latter part of May. 

 The nest is generally found in low, thick woods, 

 or in the skirting of tangled thickets; very often, 

 also, in an orchard, on the horizontal limb of 

 some low tree or sapling. The nest is usually 

 very flat, loosely constructed of twigs, fine bark 

 strips, lined with rootlets and fine inner bark. 

 The eggs are three to five in number, commonly 

 four, and of a greenish-blue, speckled, spotted 

 and blotched with rufous-brown, more or less 

 confluent, in some chiefly at the larger end. The 

 markings have a reddish tint while those of the 

 Summer Redbird, P. rubra, are more of a brown- 

 ish hue. Ten eggs measure respectively .89x.60, 

 89X.62, .92X.64, .94x.62, l.OOx.64, .98x.65, 1.00x.6o, 

 .95X.64, .94X.62, .97x.63; average size .96x.65 

 inches. 



Scarlet Tanager ; upper, female 

 lower, male. 



609. HEPATIC TANAGER. Piranga hepatica Swains. Geog. Dist-^outhem 

 Arizona and New Mexico, southward. 



Mr. W. E. D. Scott gives this species as a summer resident in the oak region of 

 the Catalina Mountains of Southern Arizona, at an altitude of 5000 feet, breeding 

 late in the season, from May 6 to 9. A nest found July 12 containing three young 

 was built on the outer branch of a live oak and was entirely similar to that of the 

 Scarlet Tanager. No reliable description of the eggs Is at hand. The male of this 

 species is of a dull red color, females and young males greenish-yellow. 



610. SUMMER TANAGER. Piranga rubra (Linn.) Geog. Dist.— Eastern 

 United States West to the edge of the Plains; north regularly to about 40°— New 

 Jersey, Central Ohio, Illinois, etc., casually north to Connecticut ajid Ontario, acci- 

 dentally to Nova Scotia, wintering in Cuba, "Central America and Northern South 

 America. 



The Summer Redbird or Rose Tanager breeds nearly throughout its United 

 States range. The adult male is a plain vermillion red; the plumage of the female 

 is olive. In habits this species resembles the Scarlet Tanager but is not so retiring, 

 frequenting open groves and often visiting towns and cities. According to Colonel 

 N. S. Goss it is a common resident in Eastern Kansas, where it begins laying about 

 the 20th of May. The nesting season of this bird extends to the latter part of July, 



