The Scarht Tanager.
I
accouut it is fa. mo.e nu,nerous .n tl.e alluvial plains of the lake shores than
" ^'^ithe. in sn.all colonies, but not crowded together one only sees
isolated eLpi : s hopping about in the scrub, sometinres n.ales, son.etnnes
females The bird does not visit the higher mountain valleys
Burmeister forurd the nest in similar situations in the ^f
do^vir. Carl Euler says he found it in tufts of reedy grass nr f 1 lol^
a Z mass partly hidden by the overhanging blades, on the ground of Inllocks
e l f o s e d by L marsh. The nest is constructed of dry leaves of reeds and rushes
B u r l t e r speaks also of moss), carefully woven and twisted toge her; but,
i e fLm a lack of binding materials, so loosely compacted that, when
" k e T it frlquentlv falls to pieces. It is cup-shaped, and the flattish depression
^^ to three in number, of a beautiful blue-green c.oi.,
shilling and smooth-shelled. The marking consists of scattered, shai-ply-defined
¿ c h y blackish spots and dots, which are distributed over the entire - f - ' ^
Leriined with very fine scrawling: those obtained by Burmeister appear also to
have had a black zone on the blunt end.
A friend of mine, Mr. J. Housdeu, of Sydenham, has had a fine ma e example
of this Tanager for a considerable time; he speaks of it as a h a r d y bird, and easy
0 keep in health; it seems to eat almost any kind of ripe fruit, and Mr. Abrahams
would be shocked to hear that it usually has some grocers' currants mixed with
its soft food Mind, I am not recommending these, but merely stating the fact that
this individual specimen eats a good many in the course of a year without apparent
ininrv I am afraid that • most amateur bird-keepers are sinners in this item ot
currants- I have given them to Blue-birds, and other fanciers give them to
Spectacle-birds, for all of which species Mr. Abrahams assures me they are unquestionably
bad.
Herr Wiener says that "this beautiful bird will live for years in a roomy
cage, under favourable circumstances. He has been bred repeatedly and reared
successfully by a lady" in Belgium, but not as yet elsewhere." , • , • ,
I will not repeat what Herr Wiener sa5's respecting the food for this bird,
because his receipt contains materials which, to my mind, are worse than currants.
1 shall avoid the latter, whenever I obtain Tanagers and give them, as Mr.
Abrahams recommencls-his food with stale bread-crumbs, preserved yolk and
potato, ripe pears, bananas, and sweet oranges; also a few mealworms and caterpillars
when obtainable.