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T H E SUMMER RED BIRD.
TANAGRA JESTIVA, GMEL.
P L A T E X L I V . ADULT MALE, YOUNG MALE, AND FEMALE.
THIS beautiful species is destitute of song, and is of solitary habits,
preferring at all times the interior of the forests, but not the densest
parts of them. I have observed that woods interspersed with what are
called scrubby hickories or stunted oaks, are favourite resorts of the
Summer Red Birds.
Their residence in the United States scarcely exceeds four months.
None remain in any of the more southern parts of our districts. Indeed,
by the middle of September, it would be difficult to see a single pair in
the forests of Louisiana. So very tender do they seem to be in regard to
cold, or even temperate weather, that they seldom go farther north than
Boston, or the shores of Lake Erie, but prefer the sandy woodlands all
along the eastern shores, as far as Massachusets.
Their flight is performed in a gliding manner when passing through
the woods, generally amidst the top branches of trees. Whilst migrating,
they rise high above the trees, and pursue their journeys only during
the day, diving towards dusk into the thickest parts of the foliage of tall
trees, from which their usual unmusical but well-known notes of chickychucky
chuck are heard, after the light of day has disappeared. This
species feeds principally on insects, and especially coleóptera, some of
which are often of larger size than a bird of the dimensions of the
Summer Red Bird might be supposed capable of swallowing. It seldom
alights on the ground, but prefers pursuing insects on the wing, which it
frequently does from the dried twigs at the extremity of the branches.
The construction of the nest of this richly clad species is nearly the
same in all parts of the Union in which it breeds. It is frequently fixed
on a branch crossing a road, or an opening of some description, or, if
in the woods, in some partially cleared space. It is usually placed low
on a horizontal branch. It is composed externally of dried stalks of
weeds, and is finished within with fine grass, arranged in a slovenly manner.
It is so insecurely fastened to the branch, that it may be shaken off
SUMMER RED BIRD.
by striking the latter smartly. The female lays four or five eggs of a
light blue colour. The male and female sit upon them alternately for
twelve days, and are as anxious about their safety as most species. The
young are seen about the beginning of June, and follow their parents
until the time of the migration of the latter, which takes place a fortnight
earlier than that of the young birds. They raise only one brood
in a season.
The alterations of plumage which appear in the young birds between
the period at which they leave the nest, and the ensuing spring, are as
great as those of the Orchard Oriole. They are at first nearly of the
colour of the female. The males become a little mottled with dull reddish
orange, towards the time of their departure for the south, the
females only deepening their tints. The following spring, the male appears
either spotted all over the body with bright red and yellowishgreen,
or only partially so, having sometimes one wing of a greenish hue,
whilst the other is tinged all over with a dull vermilion tint. All these
spots and shades of colour gradually disappear, giving place to vermilion,
which, however, is yet dull; nor is it until the third spring that the
full brilliancy of the plumage is attained.
I have several times attempted to raise the young from the nest, but
in vain. Insects, fruits, and eggs, mixed with boiled meat of various
kinds, always failed, and the birds generally died in a very few days,
uttering a dull note, as if elicited by great suffering. The same note is
emitted by the young in their state of freedom, when, perched on a
branch, they await the appearance of their parents with their proper
food.
I have represented an adult male, his mate, and a young bird in its
singularly patched state, to enable you to judge how different a family
of these birds must appear to the eye of a person unacquainted with the
peculiarity of these differences and changes of plumage.
The Vine on which you see them is usually called the Muscadine. It
grows everywhere in Louisiana, and the State of Mississippi, and that
most luxuriantly. In those States you may see vines of this species fifteen
inches in diameter near the roots, either entwined round the trunk
of a large tree, and by this means reaching the top branches and extending
over them and those of another tree, or, as if by magic, swinging in
the air, from roots attached at once to some of the uppermost branches.
In favourable seasons, they are laden with grapes, which hang in small