OUR HOME BIRDS. 
153 
“ Oh!’’ exclaimed the children under their breath, 
“ wasn’t it beautiful ? What was it, Miss Harson ?” 
“ The scarlet tanager,” replied their governess, “ a 
beautiful tropical bird who comes regularly to visit 
us from the far South, dressed in the richest scarlet, 
set off with the most jetty black. He is one of the 
few handsome birds, too, who can sing, the golden 
oriole, the scarlet tanager, and the American gold- 
finch all being remarkable in this respect. The tan- 
ager is a solitary bird, and not often seen — scarcely 
ever out of the woods, and of these he seems to pre- 
fer the high, remote ones. But once seen he is not 
easily forgotten. 
• “ He comes to Pennsylvania about the first of May, 
and builds his nest soon after. This is very careless- 
ly put together ; stalks of broken flax and dry grass 
are so thinly woven that the little tanagers can see 
through almost any part of their dwelling. There 
are three dull-blue eggs, spotted with brown or pur- 
ple. There is seldom more than one brood raised, 
and the whole family are off again for the South by 
the last of August. 
“ The scarlet tanager is six and a half inches in 
length, and his plumage is of a brilliant scarlet, ex- 
cept the wings and tail, which are a glossy black ; 
the latter is handsomely forked, and just tipped with 
white. By the first of August, however, this gor- 
