Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Tanagers

TANAGERS (Tanagridæ), a family of the Passeriformes, or perching birds, containing nearly 400 species; the bill is usually conical (sometimes depressed or attenuated), more or less triangular at the base, with the cutting edges not

much inflected, and frequently notched near the tip of the upper mandible. This last character will generally serve to distinguish the tanagers from the finches,

to which they are very closely allied; while on the other hand they have strong affinities to the American warblers {Mniotiltidæ) . They are mostly birds of small size, some of the genus Euphonia, being hardly four inches in length. This genus, with its ally Chlorophonia, is remarkable in having no gizzard; the birds belonging thereto feed chiefly on ripe fruits, which, with insects, form the principal food; some, however, feed on seeds and grain, like the finches. With the exception of a few species which visit North America in summer, the tanagers are confined to Central and South America and the West Indies. Some genera of tanagers are remarkable for their beauty of plumage. Many are also pleasant songsters, such as the organist tanager {Euphonia musica) of San Domingo; the male of this species has the upper parts purplish-black, the cap blue, and the forehead, rump, and under parts yellow; the female being olive-green, with a blue cap, and lighter and yellowish below. The scarlet tanager (Pyranga rubra), visiting the E. parts of North America in summer, and ranging S. in winter to Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, is also a songster; it is larger than the preceding species, and the male is scarlet, with black wings and tail, while the female is olive, with the wings and tail brown. Tanagers do well in captivity.



SCARLET TANAGER