414 
TANAGERS 
pale bluish white or greenish blue, with numerous rufous or rufous-brown 
markings, '88 x '68. Date , Delaware Co., Pa., May 28; New London, Conn., 
May 31; Cambridge, June 7; Black Hawk Co., Iowa, May 23; se. Minn., 
May 21. 
In watching birds, there are certain sights and sounds that make a 
day memorable much as a beautiful sunset does. I say to myself, “I 
have seen a Scarlet Tanager today!” or, “I have listened to a Hermit 
Thrush this evening.” 
High among the tree- tops of the cool green woods the Tanager sings 
through the summer days. Hidden by the network of leaves above 
us, we often pass him by; but once discovered he seems to illuminate 
the forest. We marvel at his color. He is like a Bird of Paradise in 
our northern landscape. 
We are first guided to him by his call and song. They are peculiar, 
and both have a rare woods flavor. The call is a distinctly uttered 
chip-chirr. The song is a loud, cheery, rhythmical carol, suggesting 
the song of the Robin. 
Inside the green woods the Tanager spends the summer, flying 
down to visit his nest in the fresh young undergrowth or to bathe in 
the still forest pools, and hunting and singing in the tree-tops high 
overhead. Florence Merriam Bailey. 
610. Piranga rubra rubra (. Linn .).. Summer Tanager. Ad. ?. — Rose- 
red, brighter below; wings fuscous, margined with rose-red. Im. d in winter . 
■ — Similar to the $, but with more or less of a reddish tinge throughout the 
plumage. Im. d in summer. — Variable; sometimes a mixture of ad. d and $ 
plumages, at others like the ad. d, but wing-quills as in $ . The ad. d plumage 
is acquired at the first postnuptial molt and retained thereafter at all seasons. 
Ad. $. — Upperparts orange olive-green; underparts yellowish orange. 
L., 7'50; W., 3'75; T., 2'90; B. from N., '55. 
Range. — SE. U. S. and n. S. Am. Breeds in Carolinian and Austroripa- 
rian faunas from se. Nebr., s. Iowa, se. Wise., cen. Ind., s. Ohio, Md. (for- 
merly N. J.), and Del. s. to ne. Mex. and cen. Fla.; winters from cen. 
Mex. to Peru and Guiana; straggles n. to N. B., Que., N. S., Maine, and 
Ont. ; migrant in w. Cuba. 
Washington, uncommon S. R., Apl. 18-Sept. 19. Cambridge, one 
record. 
Nest, of leaves, strips of bark, etc., generally near the extremity of a 
limb, about 20 feet up. Eggs, 3-4, bluish white or greenish blue, with nu- 
merous cinnamon- or olive-brown markings, *96 x '68. Date, San Mateo, 
Fla., May 9; Mt. Pleasant, S. C., May 12; Mt. Carmel, Ills., May 28. 
This is a common summer resident of our Southern States, arriving 
in Florida early in April. It frequents open, rather than dense woods, 
and is particularly numerous in pineries having an undergrowth of 
oaks. It may be easily identified, not alone by its color but by its 
unique call-note — a clearly enunciated chicky-tucky-tuck. Its song 
bears a general resemblance to that of the Scarlet Tanager, but to 
my ear is much sweeter and less forced. 
The Western Tanager {607. Piranga ludoviciana) , a species of our 
Western States, has been recorded from Wisconsin, Maine, Massachusetts, 
Connecticut, New York, Louisiana and Wisconsin. 
