82 
The Scarlet Tanager 
Scarlet 
and Black 
upon the wing; while worms, larvae, and mollusks are eaten, and some 
species scratch for food among fallen leaves. The nests are usually shal- 
low fabrics . . . sometimes placed in forks of trees or bushes, if not 
at the ends of branches, sometimes in masses of creepers, or even upon the 
ground.” 
Of this brilliant and interesting tropical family four species enter the 
United States in summer, and one extends its migration to southern 
Canada. This is the Scarlet Tanager, the male of 
which is probably the most conspicuous bird in North 
America in his summer suit of vivid scarlet and 
jet black. He flies through the foliage like a glowing meteor; and one 
wonders for an instant that dry twigs do not flame up in his path. 
The Scarlet Tanager loves the deep woods, but is also seen in orchards 
and clearings, and often makes its nest and rears its brood near a farm- 
house or on a village street. The nest is a very frail affair, and is usually 
saddled on a limb at no great height above the ground. It is composed 
of fine twigs and dried grasses, with a lining of rootlets. The clutch of 
eggs varies from three to five ; they are greenish, much spotted with 
browns and purple. 
“Tanagers and apple-orchards,” remarks Dr. Charles C. Abbott, in 
one of his delightful out-door books, “are as much associated as bees and 
flowers. That they are found in scores of other places is, of course, 
true; but, when elsewhere, they seem quite out of place. Where they 
tarried in Indian times we can only conjecture, but 
Favorite probably in the wild fruit- and nut-trees that were 
often planted extensively near village-sites. Indeed, 
the walnut seems to be a favorite tree with this bird, and I have 
knowledge of one being occupied for several summers by a pair of 
Scarlet Tanagers, the nest being always on the same branch. They 
regularly built a new nest, and removed every trace of the one they had 
occupied during the previous summer.” 
During the height of the spring migration a good observer in Michi- 
gan, according to Barrows, may find from twenty to fifty of these birds 
in a forenoon’s walk, and they are hardly less numerous east of the 
Alleghanies, despite the brilliant hue of the male, which would seem to 
expose him to enemies beyond the risks endured by plainer species. But, 
as Mr. Barrows further remarks: “The male is far from conspicuous, 
and it is no uncommon thing for one to sing for several moments, in full 
sight and at close range, without being located. Red 
An Invisible a nd g reen being complementary colors, the eye often 
Songster f a q s tQ nQte S p Qt Q £ ^ ee p rec | ^ 0 f the 
green.” It must be remembered, also, that the female sitting on her 
nest is protected by a perfectly neutral tint. 
Alexander Wilson, one of the earliest and most worthy of American 
ornithologists, says of the song of the Scarlet Tanager: “Among the 
thick foliage of the tallest trees his simple and almost monotonous notes, 
chip-churr, repeated at short intervals, in a pensive tone, may be occasion- 
