SCARLET TANAGER, OR BLACK-WINGED RED-BIRD. 227 



was observed by Dr. Richardson; but this must happen rarely, as it is very 

 sensible to cold, so much so indeed, that in the State of Massachusetts, should 

 a sudden change take place in the weather, during the time of their spring 

 migrations, hundreds die in the course of a night, not only in the woods and 

 orchards, but even in the towns and villages. I witnessed a like occurrence 

 at Eastport in Maine late in May, when I was on my way to Labrador; and 

 as I was proceeding to the Texas, I observed that they sought the shelter of 

 the low bushes, when the weather was damp or chill. None were seen after 

 we left the former place, though they are at times found breeding in the 

 British provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. In the United States 

 they seem extremely partial to certain districts, generally preferring sandy 

 soils and undulating grounds. Thus, I found them breeding abundantly in 

 Louisiana, but rarely there in the lower parts. My friend Dr. Bachman 

 informs me that they are seldom met with in the maritime districts of South 

 Carolina; and that there they follow the mountain range as it were for a 

 guide. Yet they are plentiful in the Jerseys, where they usually arrive about 

 the middle of May, in Kentucky, and along the Missouri; and, in short, are 

 generally dispersed over the Union. 



The migrations of this species are performed, by night. Its flight on 

 ordinary occasions is even and swift, and it passes through the woods in a 

 gliding manner, when the glowing colours of the males render them as con- 

 spicuous as pleasing to the sight. On the branches their movements are 

 rather sedate, and it is but seldom that they emit their usual notes when in 

 motion. These are by no means musical, although oft repeated. They have 

 been well imitated by Wilson, Avho represents them by the syllables "chip, 

 churr." I have not, however, thought them pensive in any degree, but 

 rather lively; and when emitting them, the bird often inflates his throat, 

 stands erect, and vibrates his body, as if in perfect ecstacy. 



It is by no means true, as authors allege, that the Scarlet Tanager retires 

 from the sight of man, and prefers the deepest recesses of the forest to the 

 neighbourhood of the husbandman's cottage; at least, this is not the case in 

 those parts of our country where the population is not very dense; for I 

 have observed it to take up its abode for a season in the very vicinity of the 

 squatter's cabin, to the patch of open ground near which it constantly 

 resorted to search for coleoptera and other insects, forming its slightly-built 

 nest on the lower branch of a spreading oak, or on a tree close to the road- 

 side, It is composed externally of a few dry weeds and small twigs, and 

 scantily lined with fibrous roots or slender grasses. In Louisiana the eggs 

 are deposited by the first of May, about a month later in our central dis- 

 tricts, but in the State of Maine frequently not until the middle of June. It 

 never raises more than one brood in the season; and I have observed that, 



