88 Birds Every Child Should Know 
lighter breast that she may be in perfect colour 
harmony with the leaves she lives and nests 
among. If she, too, wore scarlet, I fear the 
tanager tribe would have disappeared years 
ago. Happily her protective colouring, which 
betrays no nest secrets, has saved the species. 
Is it not strange that birds, who spend the 
rest of their lives among the tree-tops, hunting 
among the foliage for insects and small fruit, 
should nest so low? Sometimes they place 
their cradle on a limb only six feet from the 
ground. It is a rather shabby, poorly made 
affair which very lively tanager youngster might 
easily tumble apart. ''Chip — churr'' calls the 
gorgeous father from the tree top, and a re- 
assuring reply that all is well with the nest 
floats up to him from his mate. He does not 
often risk its safety by showing himself near 
the nest, securely hidden by the foliage below. 
If, toward the end of May, you hear him singing 
his real song, which is somewhat like an oriole’s 
mellow, cheery carol, you may be sure he is 
planning to spend the summer in your neigh- 
bourhood. Not many miles from New York 
there is a house built on the top of a hill, whose 
sides are covered with oak and chestnut woods, 
where one may be sure to see tanagers among 
the tree tops from any window at any hour of 
any day from May to October. Several nests 
in those woods are saddled on to the horizontal 
