The family of Tanagers is remarkable for the number of species, the gaudy coloring of many and the interesting fact that they are confined to the Americas and the adjacent islands. Dr. Ridgway says, "that the five families of Neotropical birds, which are represented by the greatest number of species, are absolutely peculiar to America, these families being the Tanagers, Tyrant Flycatchers, Wood-hewers, Ant Thrushes and Humming-birds. None of these families have even true representatives in any part of the Old World."

The family of Tanagers includes approximately three hundred and eighty species, of which not more than ten per cent. have a range extending as far north as Southern Mexico, and only four, or at the most five, species are known to the United States. Of these only two, the Scarlet Tanager and the Summer Red-bird, are generally known as far north as Canada.

The Tanagers make their home in the trees, and, being of a retiring disposition, are more numerous within the bounds of the forest. During the breeding season they retire still further into the interior. No wonder that they are more numerous in tropical regions, where the luxuriant foliage of the forests furnishes them with a safe retreat, and where there is an abundance of food suited to their taste. This tendency to avoid the society of man has made the study of their habits much more difficult, and but little has been recorded except that which pertains to the more northern forms.

The food is chiefly insects, especially in the larval form, and berries. To some extent they also feed upon the buds of flowers. Mr. Chapman tells us that "the tropical species are of a roving disposition, and wander through the forests in search of certain trees bearing ripe fruit, near which they may always be found in numbers." Their nests are shallow and the eggs, usually three to five in number, are greenish-blue in color, speckled with brown and purple.

The Louisiana Tanager is a Western species, ranging from British Columbia on the north to Guatemala on the south, and from the Missouri river to the Pacific coast. Our illustration well represents the male. The female, like its sister tanagers, is plainly colored, but still beautiful. It is olive green, with the underside yellowish. The feathers of the wings and tail are brown, edged with olive. It resembles the female Scarlet Tanager. The young are at first like the female. Then appears the black of the back, mixed with some olive and a slight tinge of red on the head.

It would seem that its name is a misnomer, as it is not found in the State of Louisiana.