The Violet Tanager. n
111 his paper on Birds of Pernambuco, Mr. Forbes tlius speaks of the Violet
Tanager:—
"This violet and yellow Tanager I found sparingly round Recife, and also at
Parahyba, both in gardens and in the vicinity of high forests." "This bird is
kept commonly as a cage-bird by the Brazilians, who call it "Gnarratan," a name
also applied to several small blight plnmaged birds."
Bnrmeister says it is called "Gatturama verdadeira," and that "its home is the
whole wooded country of Brazil."
Neiiwied o b s e r v e s T h e Gatturama is a very elegant bird, especially common
in the southern districts, where it is constantly kept in cages. It is lively, active,
and flies rapidly. Its food consists of many varieties of fruits; like most Tanagers,
it shows a special preference for ripe oranges, bananas, guavas etc., and therefore
does much mischief. I never heard any song from our birds beyond a short
monosyllabic call-note."
Wiener says:—"The size of this, one of the most frequently imported
Tauagers, is only about equal to that of our Siskin, and if we can supply him
with plenty of fruit, the bird will live for some time in the cage, consuming an
incredible quantity of pears, bananas, etc. Some ornithologists, who have observed
this species iu its wild state, write of its song, whilst in the cage nothing beyond
a peculiar gurgling, but not unpleasant, sound is ever heard. The Violet Tanager
is comparatively harmless in the aviary, being peaceable towards other birds."
A paragraph in a letter from Mr. Abrahams is somewhat opposed to what
Wiener states. It says;—"The two most imported lands, but chiefly by me, are
the Superb Tanager and the Brazilian Tanager. The Violet Tanager does not
come so often, but I wish it did, for it is a magnificent songster." Dr. Riiss also,
though he does not admit the superlative beauty of its song, allows that it is
lively, and not without charm. We are therefore forced to the conclusion that
Wiener's example was deficient iu vocal acquirements, and an exception to the
rule.
The gizzard of a specimen of the Violet Tanager, which was shot by Layard
at Para, was found to contain mucilaginous seeds; but it seems highly probable
that these were contained in 'some fruit which it had devoured, and the pulp of
which had been digested.