TANAGERS 



(610) Piranga riibra rubra 



{Linn.) (Lat., red). 



SUMMER TANAGER; SUM- 

 MER REDBIRD. Ad. d' — Rosy- 

 red as shown by the lower bird; 

 brightest on the head and breast; 

 wings and tail darker. Ad. 9 , and 

 Im. — As shown by the upper bird; 

 upper parts orange olive-green ; below 

 orange-buff; wings and tail darker. 

 The male retains the same colors 

 summer and winter, but immature 

 males are often mi.xed with red and 

 yellow. L., 7.50; W., 3.7s; T., 2. go; 

 B., .70. Nest — Of twigs, weeds and 

 rootlets; on horizontal limbs of trees, 

 six to fifty feet above ground; four 

 bluish-green eggs, spotted with brown. 



Range — Breeds from Md., Ohio, 

 Ind. and Wis. south to the Gulf and 

 Mexico. 



often seen and are rarely figured in pictures showing this 

 species. 



Tanagers are preeminently woodland birds, but one of the 

 finest sights it ever was my lot to see occurred on a May 12th, 

 when the migration was at its very height. It had rained 

 during the previous night but the morning in question saw 

 the sun out bright and clear. While passing a certain freshly 

 ploughed field, my astonishment was unlimited when I dis- 

 covered in with the hosts of sparrows and many bluebirds 

 feeding along the furrows, not less than twenty bright male 

 Scarlet Tanagers and nearly as many Blackburnian War- 

 blers. Such a combination of bright colors and comparatively 

 rare birds, I had never seen before, nor have I since. Yet a 

 friend of mine, on the same morning, in a place ten miles 

 distant, saw nearly as many of these same birds in a similar 

 situation. 



This species has, as a call note and as a note of alarm when 

 any one is approaching their nesting site, a characteristic 



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