TANAGER (from Neo-Lat. Tanagra, from Brazilian tangara, the native name of the bird). The popular name for the Tanagridte, a family of birds having a conical beak, triangular at the base, the upper mandible notched toward the tip, and its ridge arched. The family is closely related to the finches and about 350 species are known, all American and nearly all tropical. Only five species occur as far north as the United States and only two of these reach Canada. They are all birds of moderate or small size, six to eight inches long or less. hut of surpassingly gaudy plumage,though the brilliancy is frequently confined to the male sex. They are arboreal birds, feeding on fruit and insects, and have little power of song, but a few species are musicians of some merit. The hest known of the three North American forms is the scarlet tanager (Piranga crythromrlaR), the most brilliant bird of the Northern United States. The male is bright scarlet with black wings and tail ; the female light olive-green above and greenish yellow be neath. The immature males are like the females, but have the black wings and tail, and the adult male assumes this plumage in winter. The scarlet tanager breeds as far north as New Brunswick and as far west as Kansas, but win ters in Central and South America. It
builds its nest near the' end of a horizon tal limb; the nest is a rather loose, shallow structure of twigs, weeds, and rootlets. The eggs are pale bluish with numerous reddish brown spots. The scarlet tanager is not a notable musician, but its song is pleasing. From New Jersey southward there is found from April to September the summer tanager (Piranga ntbra), which is rose-red, brighter below, the wings fuscous margined with rose. The female is orange olive-green above, huffy yellowish green below. In habits, nesting, and song it re sembles the scarlet tanager, From the eastern foothills of the Rockies to the Pacific there is found in summer a beautiful bird, the Louisiana or 'crimson-headed tanager (Piranga Ludovioi ana). The male is bright yellow, with the whole head crimson or scarlet, and the back, wings, and tail black. The female is exactly like the female scarlet tanager, except for the white or yellowish markings on the wings. In nesting and other habits this exquisite bird resembles the others. Consult Ridgway, Birds of North and Middle America, part ii. (Washington, 1902). See Colored Plate with THRUSH.