The Western Tanager 



Taken in Modoc County 



NEST IN YELLOW PINE 



A FEMALE TANAGER MAY BE DIMLY DISCERNED BENEATH THE X MARK 



Photo by the A uthor 



intervals rather than continuously sustained. The notes are sharp- 

 edged, and rich in r's, while the movement of the whole, though 

 deliberate, is varied, and the tone cheerful." 1 I can detect no constant 

 difference between the song of the Western Tanager and that of the 

 Scarlet Tanager (P. erythromelas) , save that that of the former is oftener 

 prefaced with the call note, thus: Piteric whew, we soor a-ary e-erie 

 witooer. This song, however, is less frequently heard than that of the 

 Scarlet Tanager, East. Its perfect rendition, moreover, argues the near 

 presence of a demure little lady in olive, a person who looks like nobody in 

 particular to our undiscriminating gaze, but who exerts a strange fascina- 

 tion over our brilliant squire. Young males of the second summer sing 

 hopefully, but they are less often successful in love than their ruddier 

 rivals. 



It behooves the Tanager maiden to be exacting in her choice, for all 

 the help she will get out of him at best will be sympathy and song. When 

 it comes to real work, like nest building, she must do it. He will graciously 

 advise as to the situation, some horizontal branch of fir or pine, from six to 

 fifty feet high, and from three to twenty feet out. He will even accompany 



1 Applied to P, erythromelas in "The Birds of Ohio," p. 109, and exactly applicable here. 



435 



