Color Key to North American Birds Part 50

In the succeeding pages, the five hundred and fifty odd species and subspecies included in the preceding families of the Order Pa.s.seres are grouped according to some obvious color character in order to facilitate their identification in life. A satisfactory arrangement of this kind is out of the question. Lines sharply separating the groups proposed do not exist and some species appear to fit in one section as well as in another. Nevertheless, it is hoped that in most instances, the system will be found to serve the purpose intended. Under its ruling our Perching Birds are grouped as follows:

1. With red markings.

2. With blue markings.

3. With orange or yellow markings.

4. With reddish brown or chestnut markings, chiefly in the form of patches or uniformly colored areas.

5. Brownish, generally streaked birds.

6. Dull, inconspicuously colored birds, without prominent markings.

7. Gray, black, or black and white birds.

While the first object of the bird student is to learn to name birds I would again urge him to acquaint himself with at least the arrangement of the Orders and Families of our birds and their leading structural characters. (see page 2.)

Having identified a bird, its family may always be determined by referring to its number in the systematic list of birds at the end of the book; and the more important characters of its Order and Family will be found in the synopsis of Orders and Families beginning on page 9.

Perching Birds Marked With Red

[Ill.u.s.tration: 607.]

=607. Louisiana Tanager= (_Piranga ludoviciana_). L. 7.5. _Ad._ [Male]. Yellow; back, wings, and tail black, head more or less red.

_Ad._ [Female]. Above olive-green, head rarely red-tinged; below dusky greenish yellow; wings and tail brownish edged with greenish, two yellowish white wing-bars. _Yng._ [Male]. Like [Female], but head and rump greener, underparts yellower. _Notes._ Call, _c.l.i.t-tuck_; song, resembles that of No. 608.

Range.--Western United States from the Plains to the Pacific; breeds from Arizona to British Columbia; winters in Mexico and Central America.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 608.]

=608. Scarlet Tanager= (_Piranga erythromelas_). L. 7.4. _Ad._ [Male].

Scarlet; wings and tail black. _Ad._ [Female]. Olive-green, yellower below, wings and tail blackish brown, no wing-bars. _Yng._ [Male].

Like [Female], but brighter, wing-coverts black. _Ad._ [Male], _Winter_. Like Yng. [Female], but wings and tail black. _Notes._ Call, _chip-churr_; song, a rather forced whistle, suggesting a Robin's song, but less musical, _Look-up_, _way-up_, _look-at-me_, _tree-top_; repeated with pauses.

Range.--Eastern United States, west to the Plains: breeds from Virginia and southern Illinois north to New Brunswick and Manitoba; winters in Central and South America.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 609.]

=609. Hepatic Tanager= (_Piranga hepatica_). L. 7.8. Bill large. _Ad._ [Male]. Vermilion, back grayish; tail dull red. _Ad._ [Female]. _No wing-bars_; above _grayish_ olive; crown and tail greener; below dusky yellow. _Yng._ [Male]. Like [Female]. and variously intermediate between it and ad. [Male]. _Notes._ Call, _clut-tuck_; song, like that of No. 608, but somewhat more robin-like.

Range.--From Guatemala north in spring to New Mexico and Arizona; winters in Mexico and Central America.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 610.]

=610. Summer Tanager= (_Piranga rubra_). L. 7.5; W. 3.8. _Ad._ [Male].

Rosy red. _Ad._ [Female]. 9. Olive-yellow above, dusky saffron below.

_Yng._ [Male]. Variously intermediate between Ad. [Male] and [Female].

_Notes._ Call, _chicky-tucky-tuck_; song, resembles in form that of No. 608 but is more musical and less forced.

Range.--Eastern United States, west to the Plains; breeds from Florida and western Texas north to southern New Jersey, southern Illinois, and Kansas; winters in Central and South America.

=610a. Cooper Tanager= (_P. r. cooperi_). Similar to No. 610, but larger; W. 4; bill more swollen, colors paler.

Range.--"Breeds from southwestern Texas to the Colorado Valley, California, and from Arizona and New Mexico to northwestern Mexico; south in winter to western Mexico; casually to Colorado."

[Ill.u.s.tration: 593.]

=593. Cardinal= (_Cardinalis cardinalis_). L. 9; W. 3.7; T. 4.1. _Ad._ [Male]. Forehead with a well-defined black band; feathers of back (except in worn plumage) tipped with _olive-brown_ or _olive-gray_.

_Ad._ [Female]. Above olive-brown; crest, wings and tail dull red edged with olive-brown; throat and region at base of bill gray; breast buffy, sometimes tinged with red; belly whiter. _Notes._ Call, a sharp, insignificant _tsip_; song, a rich, sympathetic whistle, _whe-e-e-you_, _whe-e-e_, _hurry-hurry-hurry_, _quick-quick-quick_, and other notes.

Range.--Eastern United States; resident from northern Florida and eastern Texas north to southern New York and Iowa.

=593a. Arizona Cardinal= (_C. c. superbus_). Largest of our Cardinals, L. 9.5; W. 4; T. 4.9. _Ad._ [Male]. Paler, more rosy, than No. 593; margins to back feathers usually gray; black on forehead usually separated by base of culmen. _Ad._ [Female]. Gray above like No. 593c, but breast richer, much as in No. 593d; gray of throat more restricted and often confined to the chin.

Range.--Southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico.

=593b. Saint Lucas Cardinal= (_C. c. igneus_). Similar to No. 593a, but smaller; W. 3.6; T. 4; [Male] with even less, sometimes almost no black on forehead; [Female] paler; gray on chin and about base of bill less defined.

Range.--Southern Lower California.

=593c. Gray-tailed Cardinal= (_C. c. canicaudus_). W. 3.7. _Ad._ [Male]. Red bright as in No. 593d, but black on forehead narrower, usually separated by base of culmen. _Ad._ [Female]. Grayer than [Female] of No. 593, the edgings of wings and tail usually gray _without_ an olive tinge.

Range.--Texas, except western and northeastern parts, and northeastern Mexico.

=593d. Florida Cardinal= (_C. c. florida.n.u.s_). Smaller than No. 593, W. 3.4; [Male] averaging deeper red; [Female] darker and richer in color, particularly on breast.

Range.--Southern half of Florida.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 594.]

=594. Arizona Pyrrhuloxia= (_Pyrrhuloxia sinuata_). L. 9; W. 3.6; T. 4.1. _Ad._ [Male]. Gray; in fresh plumage washed with brownish; crest, wings and tail externally dull red; under wing-coverts, center of breast and of belly, throat, and region about base of bill, rosy red. _Ad._ [Female]. Usually little or no red about bill or on underparts. _Notes._ Call, several flat, thin notes; song, a clear, straight whistle. (Bailey.)

Range.--Northwestern Mexico, north to western Texas, southwestern New Mexico, and Arizona.

=594a. Texas Pyrrhuloxia= (_P. s. texana_). Similar to No. 594, but bill larger; underparts averaging slightly grayer; red before eyes averaging duskier.

=594b. Saint Lucas Pyrrhuloxia= (_P. s. peninsulae_). Similar in color to No. 594, but decidedly smaller, with the bill larger; W. 3.4; T. 3.7. (Ridgw.)