468 
GRANIVOROUS BIRDS. 
apprehension* When they are released from her more 
immediate protection, the male, at first cautious and dis- 
tant, now attends and feeds them with activity, being 
altogether indifferent to that concealment which his 
gaudy dress seems to require, from his natural enemies. 
So attached to his now interesting brood is the Scarlet 
Tanager, that he has been known, at all hazards, to fol- 
low for half a mile one of his young, submitting to feed 
it attentively through the bars of a cage, and, with a 
devotion which despair could not damp, roost by it in 
the branches of the same tree with its prison ; so strong, 
indeed, is this innate and heroic feeling, that life itself 
* is less cherished than the desire of aiding and supporting 
his endearing progeny. 
The food of the Scarlet Tanager, while with us, con- 
sists chiefly of winged insects, wasps, hornets, and wild 
bees, as well as smaller kinds of beetles and other shelly 
tribes ; they probably also sometimes feed on seeds, and 
are particularly partial to whortleberries, and other kinds 
which the season affords. 
About the commencement of August the male begins to 
moult, and then exchanges his nuptial scarlet for the 
greenish yellow livery of the female. At this period they 
leave us, and having passed the winter in the celibacy 
indicated by this humble garb, they arrive again among 
us on its vernal renewal, and so soon after this change, 
that individuals are at this time occasionally seen with 
the speckled livery of early autumn, or with a confused 
mixture of green and scarlet feathers in scattered patches. 
The length of this species is about 6'J inches ; and 10 J in alar di- 
mensions. The plumage of the male is of a brilliant scarlet, except 
the wings and tail, which are black. The tail is forked, and some- 
times minutely tipt with white ; the inner edges of the quills are also 
nearly white. Bill yellowish horn-color. Legs and feet bluish-grey. 
Iris cream-color. — The female is more green above than the autum- 
nal male. 
