The Haivlceye 0. and 0. 



THE SCARLET TANAGEK. 



Pyranga rubra. 



, Every 0110 should lie familiar with 



the habits as well as the appearance 

 of this elegant bird. His gracefully 

 formed body, clothed in the most 

 brilliant and glowing scarlet, and his 

 wings and tail of jetty black, as he 

 gambols among the thick foliage, 

 , presents one of the most lovely and 

 : attractive objects which our feather- 

 led world can afford. It iswidely 

 scattered over the United States dur- 

 ing the summer months, seeming to have a decided preference 

 for the deeply shaded woods. 



The female presents an entirely different appearance from the 

 male, being olive green above and greenish-yellow 'jelow; young 

 resemble females very closely at first and presenting an admix- 

 ture of yellow, red and black as they advance in age. It is 

 generally supposed that the male (like the Bobolink) changes to 

 the yellowish plumage of the female at the fall moults. 



The soncr resembles that of the Rose -breasted Grosbeak to 

 some extent; they also have a quickly uttered alarm note. Oc- 

 casionally they may be seen in the neighborhood of a farm house 

 or the outskirts of a village, but for the most part they are very 

 shy. The bright contrast of their plumage with the sombre oak 

 groves which they chiefly frequent renders them an attractive 

 mark to the young sportsman; this, together with the demand 

 for their skins for ornamental purposes, has been rapidly reduc- 

 ing their numbers until now, in most sections of the country, 

 they are almost rare. 



The nest is a very loosely woven structure, composed of roots, 

 twigs and bark strips, lined with finer similiar substances, nsually 

 placed in the fork of a horizontal limb, and oftentimes so slight 

 that the eggs can be seen readily from below. There are usual- 

 ly four in number, and of a greenish-bine cast; spotted with red- 

 dish-brown, usually forming a ring on the larger end. 



