(_Piranga ludoviciana._)
The family of Tanagers is remarkable for the number of species, the
gaudy coloring of many and the interesting fact that they are confined
to the Americas and the adjacent islands. Dr. Ridgway says, "that
the five families of Neotropical birds, which are represented by the
greatest number of species, are absolutely peculiar to America, these
families being the Tanagers, Tyrant Flycatchers, Wood-hewers, Ant
Thrushes and Humming-birds. None of these families have even true
representatives in any part of the Old World."
The family of Tanagers includes approximately three hundred and eighty
species, of which not more than ten per cent. have a range extending
as far north as Southern Mexico, and only four, or at the most five,
species are known to the United States. Of these only two, the Scarlet
Tanager and the Summer Red-bird, are generally known as far north as
Canada.
The Tanagers make their home in the trees, and, being of a retiring
disposition, are more numerous within the bounds of the forest. During
the breeding season they retire still further into the interior. No
wonder that they are more numerous in tropical regions, where the
luxuriant foliage of the forests furnishes them with a safe retreat,
and where there is an abundance of food suited to their taste. This
tendency to avoid the society of man has made the study of their
habits much more difficult, and but little has been recorded except
that which pertains to the more northern forms.
The food is chiefly insects, especially in the larval form, and
berries. To some extent they also feed upon the buds of flowers.
Mr. Chapman tells us that "the tropical species are of a roving
disposition, and wander through the forests in search of certain trees
bearing ripe fruit, near which they may always be found in numbers."
Their nests are shallow and the eggs, usually three to five in number,
are greenish-blue in color, speckled with brown and purple.
The Louisiana Tanager is a Western species, ranging from British
Columbia on the north to Guatemala on the south, and from the Missouri
river to the Pacific coast. Our illustration well represents the
male. The female, like its sister tanagers, is plainly colored, but
still beautiful. It is olive green, with the underside yellowish.
The feathers of the wings and tail are brown, edged with olive. It
resembles the female Scarlet Tanager. The young are at first like the
female. Then appears the black of the back, mixed with some olive and a
slight tinge of red on the head.
It would seem that its name is a misnomer, as it is not found in the
State of Louisiana.