Tanagers

Tanagers (Tanagridæ), a family of the Passeriformes, or perching birds, containing nearly 400 species; the bill is usually conical (sometimes depressed or attenuated), more or less triangular at the base, with the cutting edges not much inflected, and frequently notched near the tip of the upper mandible. This last character will generally serve to distinguish the tanagers from the finches, to which they are very closely allied; while on the other hand they have strong affinities to the American Warblers (Mniotiltidæ). They are mostly birds of small size, the largest barely exceeding a song-thrush, and the smallest, some of the genus Euphonia, being hardly 4 inches in length. This genus, with its ally Chlorophonia, is remarkable in having no gizzard; the birds belonging thereto feed chiefly on ripe fruits, which, with insects, form the principal food of the typical tanagers; some, however, feed on seeds and grain, like the finches. With the exception of a few species which visit North America in summer, the tanagers are confined to Central and South America and the West Indies. Some genera of tanagers are remarkable for their beauty of plumage, which is sometimes confined to the male sex, and sometimes possessed by the female also. Many are also pleasant songsters, such as the Organist Tanager (Euphonia musica) of San Domingo; the male of this species has the upper parts purplish-black, the cap blue, and the forehead, rump, and under parts yellow; the female being olive-green, with a blue cap, and lighter and yellowish below. The Scarlet Tanager (Pyrranga rubra), visiting the eastern parts of North America in summer, and ranging south in winter to Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, is also a songster; it is larger than the preceding species, and the male is scarlet, with black wings and tail, while the female is olive, with the wings and tail brown. Tanagers do well in captivity, and several species may usually be seen in the Zoological Gardens.