A BRILLIANT PAIR
THE SCARLET TANAGER
"That is my beautiful red bird!" cried Dodo, clapping her hands. "I
never shall forget the looks of his bright red coat with black sleeves
and tails. I saw a sort of green bird in the same tree, but it was so
different I never thought it could be his wife, till I came to
think--for the green one stayed near the nest when I came nearer and
looked up, but the red bird flew away and hid behind some leaves."
[Illustration: Scarlet Tanager]
"You are quite lucky to have seen a Scarlet Tanager in his home woods,"
said the Doctor, "for he is a shy bird who does not often venture to
show his tropical colors in open places. He knows enough not to make
himself a target for cannibal birds or House People either. Except in
his journeys to and from his winter home he lives in the shelter of the
tallest forest trees, where it is very difficult to see him, showy as he
is in his flashing colors, and even if you know by his song that he is
there. He may say, as some people think he does, 'Pshaw!
wait--wait--wait for me, wait!' but he does not wait a moment if he
thinks he is seen.
"He is very fond of water, both for bathing and drinking, and seldom
nests far from it. Whether he uses the quiet ponds and smooth streams
also for a looking-glass to comb his hair and arrange his gay coat by,
we cannot be sure, but he always looks as trig as if he had some such
aid.
"The Tanager children are curious things. Sometimes they wear coats of
many colors, like Joseph's."
"Why is that?" asked Nat.
"The reason is this. You remember I told you that young birds usually
wear plain feathers like their mothers?"
"Oh, yes," said Rap; "so that it is hard to see them until they have
sense enough to take care of themselves."
"Precisely! Now, Mother Tanager is greenish and yellow, and Father
Tanager is scarlet and black. The young ones come from the nest looking
like their mother, but as they shed their baby clothes and gain new
feathers, bits of red and black appear here and there on the little
boys, until they look as if they had on a crazy-quilt of red, yellow,
green, and black. You need not wonder that little Tommy Tanager does not
care to be seen in such patched clothes, but prefers to stay in the
deep woods or travel away until his fine red spring jacket is complete.
Father Tanager also changes his scarlet coat after the nesting. About
the time he counts his children and starts on his southward trip, he
puts on a greenish coat like his wife's gown; but he keeps his black
tail and wings, so that the children need not mistake him for their
mother. It is lucky for her that he and the boys have sense enough to
put on their own clothes, or such a very dressy family would keep her
busy looking after their toilets."
"These Tanagers aren't very plenty about here--are they, Doctor?" asked
Rap.
"Not now, my boy; their scarlet feathers are very handsome, and
thoughtless, greedy people have shot so many in the nesting season, to
sell for bonnet trimmings, that the family is growing small. But I hope
that, by making laws to protect birds and teaching children everywhere
what good neighbors and Citizens they are, these beautifully plumed
families may increase once more.
"The Scarlet Tanager is the brightest red bird that you will find in the
eastern half of the United States, but even he is not as showy as his
western cousin, the Louisiana Tanager."
The Scarlet Tanager
Length about seven inches.
Male: bright scarlet with black wings and tail.
Female: light olive-green above, dull yellow below, with dusky wings and
tail.
A good Summer Citizen of North America east of the plains and north of
Virginia.
Belonging to the guilds of Tree Trappers and Seed Sowers.
THE LOUISIANA TANAGER
"Isn't this the one I saw in your glass case, Doctor?" asked Rap with
great eagerness; "I mean that one like a Scarlet Tanager, but not so
red, more of a rose-pink all over, wings and tail too."
[Illustration: LOUISIANA TANAGER.]
"No," said the Doctor pleasantly. "That is a Summer Tanager--the only
one I ever saw in this neighbourhood It is so rare here that I shot it
to make sure there was no mistake, and you probably never saw one alive,
for the Summer Tanager is a tender bird, who seldom strays so far north
as this. But see--what do you think of this--isn't it a beauty?"
So saying, the Doctor took out of his pocket a bird-skin he had provided
for the occasion, and the children could not restrain their glee at the
sight.
"Oh! oh!" exclaimed Dodo, clapping her hands as she always did when
excited; "it's all gold and ruby and jet. Where did you get it, Uncle
Roy?"
"A friend of mine sent it to me from Oregon," answered the Doctor; "he
thought I would like to have it for my collection, because it came from
the very region where this kind of Tanager was discovered almost a
hundred years ago."
"I thought you said it was a Louisiana Tanager," said Rap and Nat,
almost in the same breath.
"So it is, boys; but it does not live in the State of Louisiana you are
thinking about, down by the mouth of the Mississippi River. I shall have
to explain how it got its name by giving you a little lesson in the
history and geography of our country. A great many years ago there was a
King of France called Louis the Fourteenth, and during his reign all the
western parts of America that the French had discovered or acquired any
claim to were named Louisiana in his honor by one of the missionaries
who came over to convert the Indians to Christianity. After a good many
years more, about the beginning of this century, President Jefferson
bought all this immense country from Napoleon Bonaparte, and that made
it a part of the United States--every part of them that is now ours from
the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, except some that we
afterward took from Mexico. President Jefferson was a very wise man, and
as soon as he had bought all this land he wanted to know about it. So he
sent an expedition to explore it, under two brave captains named Lewis
and Clark. They were gone almost three years; and one day,--I remember
now, it was the sixth of June, 1806,--when they were camping in what is
now Idaho, near the border of Oregon, they found this lovely bird, and
wrote a description of it in their note-books--just as you did with your
Scarlet Tanager, Dodo, only theirs was the first one anybody ever
wrote. They also saved the specimen and afterward gave it to Alexander
Wilson, who painted the first picture of it, and named it the Louisiana
Tanager in his book."
"Did you ever see one alive, Uncle Roy?" asked Nat; "what does it look
like flying?"
"I can answer that question," said Olive; "don't you remember, father,
when we were in Colorado, the same year we found the Sage Thrasher and
Rock Wren, that I thought the first one we saw was a Scarlet Tanager in
one of its patch-work plumages, till you told me about it--though it did
seem to be too bright yellow, and the middle of the back was black. But
it looked the same size, and flew just the same. How beautiful it
looked, as it flashed its golden feathers through the dark-green pine
trees!" added Olive, her face lighting up at the recollection.
"Yes, I remember," answered the Doctor. "All the Tanagers of our country
have pretty much the same habits. Even if we had found the nest we might
have mistaken it for a Scarlet Tanager's. Those I have seen in the
Museum are quite similar, built of twigs and pliant stems, and lined
with fine rootlets. The position of the nest, saddled as it is on the
horizontal limb of a tree, is very similar, and you could hardly tell
the eggs apart.
"But come, children, you must be tired by this time, and hungry too. Let
us go to supper, and see what Mammy Bun has cooked for us this evening.
You stay too, Rap."
The Louisiana Tanager.
Length about seven inches.
Adult male: rich yellow, with black wings, tail, and middle of the back;
the wings with two white or yellow bars on each; the whole head crimson.
Female: not very different from the female Scarlet Tanager.
A handsome and useful Summer Citizen of nearly all that great part of
the United States which was once called Louisiana.
A member of the same guilds as the Scarlet Tanager.