Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/591

 TAMBURINI years' practice in the theatre and churches of his native city, he made his public debut at Bologna in 1818, and soon rose into great celebrity in Italy. In 1832 he first appeared in London and Paris, and thenceforth visited them annually until his retirement in 1854, when he settled at Sevres, France. With Grisi, Kubini, and Lablache, he was one of the ori- ginal performers in Bellini's Puritani, and for several seasons continued a member of that remarkable quartet. His voice, a baritone of great power and sweetness, was shown to the best effect in the operas of Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti, and he was also an excellent actor both in serious and buffo opera. His finest parts were Figaro and Don Giovanni. TAMBURINI, Pietro, an Italian theologian, born in Brescia in 1737, died in Pavia in March, 1827. In 1772, while professor in the semi- nary of Brescia, he was appointed by Pope Clement XIV. prefect of studies in the Irish college of San Isidoro at Kome. In 1778 he was appointed by the empress Maria Theresa professor of theology at Tavia and director of studies in the Germane-Hungarian college in that city. In 1795 he resigned his professor- ship, but in 1797 the French authorities in Lombardy compelled him to fill the chair of ethics and international law in the university. This chair was suppressed in 1798, but restored in 1801, and filled by him till 1818, when he was appointed dean of the faculty of law. He published Idea della Santa Sede (Pavia, 1784), in which he opposed the doctrine of papal official infallibility, while maintaining the jurisdictional supremacy of the Roman see ; Introduzione allo studio della filosofia (Milan, 1797) ; Lezioni di filosofia morale, e di naturale e sociale diritto (4 vols., Pavia, 1806-'12) ; Elementa Juris Nature (Milan, 1815) ; and Cenni sulla perfettibilita delV umana famiglia (Milan, 1823). TAMERLANE. See TIMOTJE. TAMILS, or Tamuls. See INDIA, RACES AND LANGUAGES OF, vol. ix., p. 215. TAMPICO, or Santa Ana de Tamanlipas, a sea- port town of Mexico, in the state of Tamauli- pas, on the river Panuco, 5 m. from the gulf of Mexico, and 235 m. N. N. W. of Vera Cruz ; pop. about 5,500. It is on rising ground, with wide streets crossing at right angles. The houses are mostly of stone, and there are two churches, a custom house, two hospitals, a prison, and some monuments. The harbor is not very safe, and has a dangerous bar. The commerce is principally with New York, New Orleans, and Liverpool, and to the latter port there is a regular line of steamers. For the year ending Sept. 30, 1874, the value of im- ports was $715,821 ; of exports, $1,836,472, including $1,264,015 specie. TANAGER, a name given to the tanagrince, a very large division of the finch family, peculiar to America, and almost entirely confined to the southern portion of the continent, which con- tains nearly 200 of the more than 220 species TANAGER 563 described by Sclater. The bill has the upper mandible notched, and is usually triangular at the base and arched; the toes have strong claws, and the hind toe is long and strong. They are small and brilliant birds, the prevailing colors being orange, scarlet, and black ; many have a pleasing song, and a few are remarkable for their musical powers ; their flight is rapid, movements active, and habits arboreal; most unite in flocks, often in the neighborhood of human habitations, but a few are solitary ; the food consists of insects, fruits, and seeds. Of the 20 genera, only a few of the common ones can be here noticed. In the genus pyranga (Vieill.) the wings are long and pointed, the second quill nearly as long as the third, which is longest ; tail moderate and nearly even. One of the most richly colored of North American birds is the scarlet tanager (P. rubra, Vieill.), about 7i in. long and llf in. in alar extent; the male in the breeding season is of a general bright carmine color, with the wings and notched tail velvety black ; the female is dull yellowish green, which is also the color of the young and the other sex in autumn and winter. Scarlet Tanager (Pyranga rubra). It enters the United States from Mexico early in April, arriving in New Jersey about the middle of May ; it goes as far north inland as Lake Huron, and has been found breeding in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia ; it is very sensitive to cold ; its migrations are performed at night ; its notes are lively, but not musical according to Wilson, resembling the syllables " chip, churr." The change from the winter to the summer plumage takes place very rapid- ly ; it is shy and unsociable, preferring the deep recesses of forests, and rarely approaching hu- man habitations in crowded villages ; the food consists of fruits and insects, especially wasps and bees. As in the subfamily generally, the nest is thin and coarsely made ; the eggs are three to five, dull greenish blue with brown and purple specks, and are seven eighths by five eighths of an inch in size. This species is found from the eastern states to Missouri. The Mississippi tanager or summer red bird (P. (estiva, Vieill.) is 7 in. long and 11 in. in alar extent ; the color is light red, brightest on the head, the back dusky, and the quills and shafts of tail feathers brown ; bill light horn