232 
LOUISIANA TANAGER. 
out the whole forenoon, during which time our songster is busily engaged 
in quest of such coleopterous insects and larvm as are to be found on the 
young branches of the trees he frequents, and which require an assiduous 
and long-continued search to gratify his wants. Of the female and nest 
we are still ignorant, though they are in all probability very similar to 
those of our other known species. We have not seen this bird as far south 
as Upper California, though it may exist in the thicker forests remote from 
the coast, which we had no opportunity of visiting.” 
Mr. Townsend says that “ this handsome bird is called Ik kok koot by 
the Chinook Indians. It is rare on the banks of the Platte, but rather 
common in the woods and oak groves of the Columbia. None were seen 
after leaving the Black Hills, until we reached the lower country. Its 
voice is generally harsh, being a low and guttural churr, but it at times 
sings with considerable spirit. The female is very silent and retired in 
her habits, and is therefore seldom seen.” 
Male, 7i, wing, 3®|-. 
Platte river. Columbia river. Common. Migratory. 
Louisiana Tanager, Tanagra ludoviciana, Wils. Amer. Orn„, vol. iii. p. 27. 
Tanagra ludoviciana, Bonap. Syn., p. 105. 
Louisiana Tanager, Nutt. Man., vol. i. p. 471. 
Louisiana Tanager, Tanagra ludoviciana , And. Orn. Biog., vol. iv. p. 385 ; vol. 
v. p. 90. 
Adult Male, in Spring. 
Bill rather short, robust, tapering, compressed toward the end, acute. 
Upper mandible with its dorsal outline declinate and slightly convex, the 
ridge rather narrow, the sides convex, the edges sharp, overlapping, with 
two slightly prominent small festoons about the middle, and a distinct notch 
close to the tip, which is a little declinate. Lower mandible strong, with 
the angle short and wide, the dorsal line straight, the back broadly convex, 
the sides convex, the edges sharp, the tip acute. Nostrils round, basal. 
Head rather large, ovate, flattish above ; neck very short ; body ovate, 
compact. Legs shortish ; tarsus short, compressed, rather stout, with seven 
anterior scutella, and two lateral plates forming an acute edge behind; toes 
of moderate length ; middle toe longer than tarsus, lateral toes much 
shorter and equal, hind toe stout. Claws rather large, arched, much com- 
pressed, acute. 
Plumage soft, blended ; feathers of the head stiffish, with silky lustre ; 
bristles at the base of the upper mandible small. Wings of ordinary length, 
the second quill longest, the first four having the outer web attenuated 
