ing in the valley portions of California, none having been seen from Sacramento east- 

 ward until well into the pine forest of the Sierra Nevada. It was first observed in the 

 w^estem portion of that range, at an altitude of about 5,000 feet, its song first attract- 

 ing attention, from its extreme similarity to that of the Scarlet Tanager, of the East. 

 From this point eastward it was met with in every wooded locality, being much more 

 firequently seen on the mountains than along the rivers of the lower valleys. In May, 

 soon after their arrival from the South, these Tanagers were very numerous in the rich 

 valley of the Truckee, near Pyramid Lake, where they were observed to feed chiefly on 

 the buds of the grease-wood bushes (Obione confertifolia), in company with the Black- 

 headed Grosbeak and Bullock's Oriole. Very few were seen later in the season, however, 

 nearly all having departed for the mountain woods. During July and August it was a 

 common species on the eastern slope of the Ruby Mountains, where it inhabited the 

 groves of cedar, nut-pine, and mountain mahogany ; while from June to August it was 

 an abundant bird in the pine forests of the Wahsatch and Uintah ranges. In September 

 they w^ere noticed to feed extensively on the fruit of the Crataegus rivularis, in company 

 with the Red-shafted Flicker, Gairdner's Woodpecker, the Cedarbird, and the Cross-bills. 



"In its habits this species is almost a perfect counterpart of the eastern P. erytbro- 

 melas, while its soflg is scarcely distinguishable, being merely a slightly finer, or more 

 silvery, tone; but the ordinary note, sounding like plit'-it, is very different from the 

 chip'-^-ra, ree of the eastern species. The note of the young is quite peculiar, being a 

 low whistle, something like the complaining call of the Eastern Bluebird, but louder." 

 According to Dr. Elliott Coues, the same ornithologist found a nest and eggs of 

 the Louisiana Tanager in Parley's Park, Utah, on the 9th of June, 1869. This nest, says 

 Dr. Brewer, 'was on the extreme end of a horizontal branch of a pine, in a grove, flat, 

 and with only a slight depression having a diameter of four and a half inches, with a 

 height of only an inch. It was composed externally of only a few twigs and dry wiry 

 stems, and lined almost entirely with fine vegetable rootlets.' Such description of the 

 nidification shows that the nesting is quite the same as that of the Scarlet Tanager. 

 A set of eggs collected by Mr. Ridgway, and examined by me in the National Museum, 

 differs noticeably from those of other Tanagers of this genus, the ground-color being 

 much clearer green, and more sparingly marked by mere dots of very dark purplish- 

 brown. A few points appear over the whole surface, but the tendency of the markings 

 is to aggregate at the larger end, where the spots nevertheless remain perfectly distinct, 

 though so numerous. In size and shape, these eggs are not very different from those 

 of the Scarlet Tanager, though appearing rather more rounded if not actually larger. 

 Dr. Brewer's measurements give a length of 0.95, with a greatest breadth of 0.66; eggs 

 of P. erythromelas, he states, range from 0.90 to 1.00 in length, with an average 

 diameter of 0.65. The number of eggs laid by the Louisiana Tanager is said by the 

 same author to be usually three; but as the number of instances from which this 

 average is deduced is not stated, we are free to infer that the clutch may ordinarily 

 consist of four or five eggs, as is the case with the Scarlet Tanager. 



"Thus it seems to be established that the habits and manners of the Louisiana 

 Tanager differ in no wise from those of the Scarlet Tanager, and that its singing and 

 nesting are much the same, though there may be some peculiarity of its call-note, and 



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