Scarlet Tanager

The Scarlet Tanager is sexually dimorphic, but both sexes have dark gray to black wings.

Males are bright red, with black wings and tail.  Length: 7 in.  Wingspan: 11 in.

Photograph © Glenn Bartley.

Females are greenish-yellow, with somewhat darker wings.

Fall males are greenish-yellow with black wings.  Males show blotch green and black as they molt into winter colors.

Fall immatures resemble fall adults.

Photograph © Greg Lavaty.

Scarlet Tanagers inhabit deciduous forests.

Scarlet Tanagers eat insects and berries.

Scarlet Tanagers forage in treetops, sometimes flycatching.

Scarlet Tanagers breed across much of the eastern U.S. They winter in South America. The population appears stable.

Female. Photograph © Greg Lavaty.

Scarlet Tanagers are sensitive to forest fragmentation, requiring large blocks of unbroken habitat.

Scarlet Tanagers have very rarely hybridized with Summer Tanagers.

The song is a series of robin-like notes, but more hoarse.  A harsh, two-note call is also given.

The Scarlet Tanager’s nest is a cup of twigs, grasses, and forbs and is lined with finer materials. It is placed on a horizontal branch of a tree, usually rather high.

Number: Usually lay 4 eggs.
Color: Pale blue with darker markings.

Incubation and fledging:
The young hatch at about 13-14 days and fledge at about 9-12 days, though remaining dependent on the adults for some time.

Published by the Smithsonian Institution between the 1920s and the 1950s, the Bent life history series of monographs provide an often colorful description of the birds of North America. Arthur Cleveland Bent was the lead author for the series. The Bent series is a great resource and often includes quotes from early American Ornithologists, including Audubon, Townsend, Wilson, Sutton and many others.

Bent Life History for the Scarlet Tanager – the common name and sub-species reflect the nomenclature in use at the time the description was written.

The scarlet tanager is a bird of contradictions. It possesses a brilliancy of plumage almost unrivaled among North American birds, yet the tanager, even the scarlet male, is seldom conspicuous; its characteristic song is diagnostic to those of us who know it well, yet when the tanager is heard singing, it is often mistaken for a robin, a rose-breasted grosbeak, or even for a red-eyed vireo, birds which sing somewhat like it: thus, unseen and unheard (or unregarded), it is often considered a rare bird, even in localities where it breeds commonly. The behavior of the tanager largely accounts for this anomaly.

Spring: The scarlet tanager comes back to New England from the tropics during the height of the spring migration, at a time when a multitude of birds, residents and migrants, are here in great profusion. The expanding leaves are fast shading the bare branches, shutting from our view countless perches in the treetops where a bird may be almost invisible, so that the tanager,. an arboreal bird of quiet demeanor, practically disappears from sight, hidden in the labyrinth of leafy branches. Even when in full view against a bright sky, the bird often appears as a shape rather than a bit of color, although sometimes, of course, when on a prominent perch the bird seems to blaze with color: as Frank Bolles (1891) says: “his plumage seemed burning among the leaves.”

At the time of his arrival the chorus of bird music is a confusing medley from which few voices stand out clear and separate, and as the tanager’s song bears to many ears more than a superficial resemblance to those of some other birds, he often passes unnoticed. Yet the tanager is a fine songster and sings freely all spring and summer long.

Every few years in May comes a prolonged period of heavy rain which washes the insects from the trees and shrubs, and forces the arboreal birds to feed on the ground. During these periods the hordes of migrating warblers collect in the fields to seek insects among the grass blades. Here the tanagers gather too, making spots of glowing color in the open country.

Alexander Sprunt, Jr. (1924), calls attention to the fact that “although this species has been taken on the coast of South Carolina on a few former occasions, * * * this record [of a bird collected on one of the barrier islands of South Carolina] is of interest in that no specimen, heretofore, has been taken on any coast island, or in such close proximity to the ocean.~~ Audubon (1841) stresses the same point. He says: “My friend Dr. Bachman informs me that they are seldom met with in the maritime districts of South Carolina; and that there they follow the mountain range as it were for a guide.”

Francis M. Weston (MS) writes: “The scarlet tanager is a regular and somewhat abundant spring migrant through the Pensacola region. Occurrence is usually restricted to the latter half of April, but, in the course of 30 years of observation, I have noted tanagers as early as April 5, 1937, and as late as May 15, 1940. As with other trans-Gulf migrants, their abundance on this coast is conditioned by the weather. In seasons when long spells of clear weather offer no obstacle to passage across this region, few tanagers are seen; in seasons when spells of rain, heavy fog, or strong northerly winds interfere with the northward flight, incoming migrants from across the Gulf stop when they reach this coast. At such times, the coastal woods swarm with tanagers until on the first favorable night, they are off again, and the woods are deserted.”

Alexander F. Skutch (MS.) reports: “In Central America the scarlet tanager is known only as a passage migrant in both fall and spring. In the 15 years during which I have given attention to the spring migration, I have recorded the scarlet tanager only five times, at dates ranging from March 29 to April 30. All these records were made in Costa Rica, four of them in El General in the southern part of the country on the Pacific slope, the fifth at Vara Blanca, at an altitude of 5,500 feet in the central mountains. These migrating scarlet tanagers were all seen singly, except a male and a female which on April 21, 1940, were keeping company as though mated. While migrating through Central America, the scarlet tanagers forage high up in the forest trees, and possibly for this reason, rather than because of actual scarcity, they have been so seldom recorded.

“Early in the morning of April 29, 1942, I heard the oft-repeated song of a scarlet tanager in the forest near my home in southern Costa Rica. He sang again in the same place on the following morning: a rich, deep-toned song which brought to mind forests of oak and hickory whither he was bound, far away in the north. Later I succeeded in glimpsing him, a splendid male in full nuptial array of scarlet and black amid the golden blossoms in the top of a tall mayo tree (Vochysia Jerruginea) at the edge of the forest. Could he expect to find, in those far northern woodlands, another tree which would provide so glorious a background for his flaming plumage and his cheerful song?” Courtship: The tanager presumably has no marked ritual of courtship, for the literature speaks of it seldom and sparingly. Forbush (1929) gives us a hint, saying: “In hot weather the males of this species often may be seen with the wings drooping and tail cocked up, which gives them a jaunty appearance. This posture is exaggerated during courtship by dragging the wings and fluffing up the scarlet plumage, which may add to his attractiveness in the eyes of his expectant consort.” Francis H. Allen (MS.) gives a different picture. He says: “A female called chip-err a few times in the top of a tree and was there joined by a male, which leaned forward towards her with closely appressed plumage, giving him a very attenuated appearance, and held his wings out from the body and drooped, with a sharp bend at the wrist. That is, the primaries were not extended, but the forearm was, and was held drooping at an angle of perhaps forty-five degrees from the horizontal.”

Early in June 1943, I heard a bird note which I did not recognize, repeated over and over with a slight questioning rise in pitch at the end. It was not a whistle, but a roughened note which might be spelled kiree; it resembled the tone which physicians term the “spoken voice,” as heard through a stethoscope. I looked up, and above my head was a pair of scarlet tanagers perched close together on a branch. One of them was making the sound: perhaps both of them were. The male was beside his mate, facing the same way, almost touching her. She was crouched down on the perch, and her wings were quivering. It was evidently the moment just before the culmination of courtship.

Nesting: The tanager builds a rather small, flat, loosely constructed nest, using as materials twigs and rootlets, lining it with weed stems and grasses. It is generally placed well out from the trunk of a tree on a horizontal branch, usually not far from 20 feet above the ground. A. C. Bent (MS.) describes a nest containing four eggs as being “15 feet up and 8 feet out, near the end of a horizontal limb of a hemlock, beside a path in woods of mixed trees; it was made of very fine twigs, coarse grass, and weed stems, and lined with fine grass.”

W. G. F. Harris (MS.) found in Rehoboth, Mass., a nest “about 15 feet from the ground against the trunk of a small beech tree. A very loose and comparatively flat nest of long rootlets (many of them over 12 inches long), it was lined with finer rootlets and dry weed stems. Its outside measurements, in millimeters, were height 64, and diameter 115; the cup had a depth of 40 and a diameter of 66 millimeters.”

A. D. DuBois (MS.) speaks of a nest “about 45 feet from the ground in an ash tree which stood in a pasture just outside the wood. The nest was placed well out from the trunk, at forks of a branch which extended upward at an angle of 45 degrees.” F. W. Rapp (MS.) reports to A. C. Bent his discovery in Michigan of what he “considers as colony nesting.” He says: “Between the latter part of May and the middle of June 1897, I found nine nests of the tanager in a area of about three acres, in the midst of a 40-acre tract of oak near Vicksburg. These nests were loosely but firmly constructed of small sticks and twigs and could be looked through from below.” Eight of these nests were in oaks (white, black and scarlet) and one was in a maple tree, ranging from 25 to 32 feet above the ground. Bent tells me that he found a nest of the scarlet tanager in an apple tree m an orchard, and another on a branch of a small red cedar in an old hillside pasture.

Eggs: The scarlet tanager lays from three to five eggs to a set, usually four. They are usually ovate in shape, sometimes tending to short ovate, and are only moderately glossy. The ground color is “bluish glaucous,” “deep bluish glaucous,” “light Niagara green,” pale Niagara green,” or “etain blue.” The irregular spots or blotches are of “auburn,” “chestnut,” “bay,” and “argus brown.” There is considerable variation in the amount of the markings; the eggs may be minutely speckled or boldly spotted. These spots may be evenly distributed over the entire egg, but there is usually a concentration toward the large end, where often a wreath is formed; and occasionally they are confluent., forming a solid cap at the large end. The undertones of “deep brownish drab” are not visible on all eggs, but are best seen on the more boldly marked types. In most cases the markings are distinct, but occasionally they are somewhat clouded and portions of the ground color are concealed by a suffusion of light brown. Rarely a set of eggs may be found with one or more eggs entirely lacking the blue ground color, which is replaced by a creamy white color, upon which are the usual brown spots.

The measurements of 50 eggs, according to Harris, average 23.3 by 16.5 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 26.9 by 16.8, 23.9 by 17.8, 19.8 by 16.0 ,and 21.3 by 15.2 millimeters.

Young: Louis S. Kohier (1915a) reports on the study of three nests of the scarlet tanager found in New Jersey. The incubation period was 13 days in one nest, and 14 days in the other two nests, the incubation in all three nests being performed wholly by the female parent. In the first nest both parents fed the young, which were hatched on July 5, until they were fledged, a period of 15 days, when “the male disappeared from the vicinity and the young were seen daily with the adult female until August 1st when they all disappeared.” In the second nest the young were fed by both parents for 2 days. After this “the male discontinued his efforts and only visited the nest at intervals of perhaps 30 minutes bringing no food, and finally “left the vicinity.” The female, unaided, raised three of the four young. At the third nest the young were fed for 2 days by the female, the male “never approaching the nest closer than five or six feet. However, at the beginning of the third day the male began bringing food to the youngsters and continued to do so for five days thereafter. At this time, for some inconceivable reason, he took a great dislike to his mate and their offspring and began administering vicious pecks and jabs with his beak at her and the young. She quickly took on a defensive mood and after several hours of conflict drove him off and kept him away. * * * The young of this brood progressed with equal regularity with Number One and about August 1st moved from the vicinity of the nest about two hundred feet down the valley and here were seen with the mother bird until the 15th when they also disappeared.”

Plumages: Author’s note: Dwight (1900) describes the juvenal plumage as “above, olive-yellow, including sides of head and neck, the back greener with dusky edgings. Wings and tail dull brownish black, the secondaries, ‘wing coverts, tertiaries, and rectrices edged with olive-yellow, whitish on the tertiaries and primaries. Below, dull white, sulphur-yellow on the abdomen and crissum, broadly streaked on the breast and sides with grayish olive-brown.” The sexes are alike in this plumage .

A partial postjuvenal molt occurs in late July and August, involving the contour plumage and the wing coverts but not the rest of the wings nor the tail. I have seen a young bird in full juvenal plumage as late as August 11, and have seen the beginning of the molt as early as July 24.

Dwight (1900) describes the first winter plumage of the young male as “above, including sides of head deep olive-yellow or pale olivegreen. Below, citron-yellow. The wing coverts are jet-black edged with olive-yellow, but frequently only a part of them are renewed.”

He says of the first nuptial plumage:

Acquired by a partial prenuptial moult probably in March and April which involves the body plumage, wing coverts, tertiaries and the tail but not the primaries, their coverts, the secondaries and usually not the alulae. The body plumage becomes scarlet vermilion varying in intensity sometimes pale or mixed with orange, usually paler but often indistinguishable from the adult. The tibiae become black and red often retaining a few old greenish feathers. Black tertiaries and black wing coverts without edgings are assumed in sharp contrast to the worn brown flight feathers which mark adults in nuptial dress. It is not unusual f or only a part of the wing coverts or tertiaries to be renewed and as a freak, scarlet coverts are occasionally assumed. Greenish feathers of the first winter dress left over are comparatively infrequent on the body, the moult usually being quite complete.

I have seen young males in this first nuptial plumage in which the body color is decidedly yellowish, varying from “cadmium orange” to “cadmium yellow” or “light cadmium,” often more tinged with orange above and yellower below. Year-old birds and adults have a complete postnuptial molt, beginning sometimes as early as July 17, and sometimes not completed before September 21. At this molt the wings and tail become entirely jet-black, and the yellow-green of the upper parts is deeper than in first winter plumage.

Of the female, Dwight (1900) says: “In first winter plumage the female is greener with less yellow and duller than the male and without black wing coverts. The first nuptial plumage is yellowish and so fresh that a prenuptial moult is indicated, probably more limited than that of the male. At the postnuptial moult an orange tinged adult winter plumage is acquired and sometimes black wing coverts appear, seen in the adult nuptial plumage in which only the body feathers are renewed by a partial prenuptial moult.”] Food: Edward H. Forbush (1907) gives an admirable account of the tanager’s food. He says:

In its food preferences the Tanager is the appointed guardian of the oaks. It is drawn to these trees as if they were magnets, but the chief attraction seems to be the vast number of insects that feed upon them. It is safe to say that of all the many hundreds of insects that feed upon the oaks few escape paying tribute to the Tanager at some period of their existence. We are much indebted to this beautiful bird for its share in the preservation of these noble and valuable trees. It is not particularly active, but, like the Vireos, it is remarkably observant, and slowly moves about among the branches continually finding and persistently destroying those concealed insects which so well escape all hut the sharpest eyes. Nocturnal moths, such as the Catocales, which remain motionless on the tree trunks by day, almost invisible because of their protective coloring, are captured by the Tanager. Even the largest moths, like cecropia and tuna, are killed and eaten by this indefatigable insect hunter. * * * I once saw a male Tanager swallow what appeared to he a heligramite or dobson (Corydalia corn ulc) bead first and apparently entire, though not without much effort. * * * As a caterpillar hunter the bird has few superiors. It is often very destructive to the gipsy moth, taking all stages but the eggs, and undoubtedly will prove equally useful against the brown-tail moth. I.eaf-rolling caterpillars it skillfully takes from the rolled leaves, and it also digs out the larvae of gall insects from their hiding places. Many other injurious larvae are taken. Wood-boring beetles, hark-boring beetles, and weevils form a considerable portion of its food during the months when these insects can he found. Click beetles, leaf-eating beetles, and crane flies are greedily eaten. These beneficial habits are not only of service in woodlands, but they are exercised in orchards, which are often frequented by Tanagers. Nor is this bird confined to trees, for during the cooler weather of early spring it goes to the ground, and on plowed lands follows the plow like the Blackbird or Robin, picking up earthworms, grubs, ants, and ground beetles. Grasshoppers, locusts, and a few bugs are taken, largely from the ground, grass, or shrubbery.

Forbush enlarges on the value of the tanager to apple orchards, saying: “Two Scarlet Tanagers were seen eating very small caterpillars of the gipsy moth for eighteen minutes, at the rate of thirty-five a minute. These birds spent much time in that way. If we assume that they ate caterpillars at this rate for only an hour each day, they must have consumed daily twenty-one hundred caterpillars, or fourteen thousand seven hundred in a week. Such a number of caterpillars would be sufficient to defoliate two average apple trees, and so prevent fruitage. The removal of these caterpillars might enable the trees to bear a full crop.”

Waldo L. McAtee (1926) does not give unqualified praise to the tanager’s feeding habits: “In its choice of animal food the Scarlet Tanager must be criticized for preying more extensively upon useful Hymenoptera than upon any other group of insects. We do not imagine that the bird makes a special search for these insects, but believe that it merely happens to encounter them frequently in the particular places where it habitually feeds. After Hymenoptera the important insect groups on the Tanager’s bill-of-fare are beetles, lepidoptera, and bugs.* * *

“While the Scarlet Tanager feeds on the useful parasitic wasps and their allies to a greater extent than would seem desirable, it does enough good so that judgment from an economic point of view must be rendered in its favor.”

MeAtee, summarizing, says: “One-eighth of the food of this species is derived from the plant, and seven-eighths from the animal world. Wild fruits are the chief vegetable food, those of juneberry, huckleberry, bayberry, sumac, blackberry, elderberry, and blueberry being most frequently taken.”

Francis H. Allen (MS.) writes: “I saw a pair of scarlet tanagers in a rum cherry, feeding on the ripe fruit and catching flies on the wing.” Francis M. Weston (MS.), speaking of Pensacola, Fin., says: “During their brief, enforced stays in this region, the favorite food of the scarlet tanager is the ripe berries of the red mulberry (Morus rubra). Because of the dense foliage of these trees, it is not possible to make an actual count of the birds in their branches, but an observer at some point of vantage, watching the tanagers come and go to and from a large mulberry in full fruit, would not hesitate to guess the presence of 40 or 50 birds at one time.”

Walter B. Barrows (1912) states that Professor Aughlcy records the capture of a scarlet tanager “which had 37 locusts in its craw and nothing else that I could identify.”

Behavior: As we watch a scarlet tanager at close range, we note its quiet, unhurried manner as it moves leisurely about its favorite woodland of oak trees. But that it can move rapidly on occasion is shown by E. H. Forbush (1929) who remarks: “Mr. A. C. Bagg says that he saw one drop a red berry from its bill and recover it before it had fallen eight inches.”

As a rule, however, the bird gives us the impression of a placid, indolent, somewhat self-conscious personality, almost lethargic, paying little attention to the life about it. The tanager, a bird seemingly of neutral qualities, compares unfavorably in the popular mind with the more striking, buoyant species in its neighborhood, and this prejudice perhaps explains why so little has been written about it in the literature. Indeed, Frank Bolles (1894) speaks disparagingly of the bird, saying: “Mr. and Mrs. Tanager, he in scarlet coat and she in yellow satin, are best measured by contrast with the refined warblers. Their voices are loud, their manners brusque, their house without taste or real comfort. They have no associates, no friends. They never seem at ease, or interested in the misfortunes or joys of those beneath them.”

Lyle Miller, of Youngstown, Ohio, writes to us: “June 6,1926: As I was hurrying through a woods to my car, my attention was directed towards a male tanager. He was sitting in a low shrub, quietly watching me. I stopped and eyed him. It was then I noticed his mate a short distance away, also in a frozen attitude. I stood quietly watching the birds for two or three minutes. Neither one moved although both were quite close to me. Glancing cautiously around, I spied the nest. It was only inches from my head, 5 feet up in a dogwood tree. The strange behaviour of the birds was explained .

Not till I walked towards them did they move and give their customary call note of alarm. The nest held four fresh eggs.”

Voice: The tanager’s song is rather pleasing, although the bird is by no means a great artist. The song resembles the robin’s in form, that is it consists of short phrases alternating in pitch, continuing on indefinitely, usually with no concluding phrase, as in the rosebreasted grosbeak’s song, which satisfies the ear in a musical sense. However, in rare instances the tanager does introduce a final phrase, rounding out the song into a finished sentence. Such a song, from my notes of 1913, might be written, querit, queer, queer-y, querit, queer.

The quality of the tanager’s voice, with a hoarse burr running through it, gives individuality to the song, making it stand out distinctively among the songs of North American birds. The syllables Weer weera, pronounced with a faint hum to suggest the huskiness of the tanager’s voice, call the song to mind. The phrases, repeated half a dozen times or more with little range in pitch, are spoken or hummed rather than whistled; although they carry well, they are not overloud and at a little distance might not be noticed if one were unfamiliar with the song.

Aretas A. Saunders (MS.) sends to A. C. Bent this analysis: “The song of the scarlet tanager consists of a series of from 3 to 9 notes and slurs, with short pauses between them. The notes and slurs are usually of equal length, and also the pauses between them, so that the song has an even rhythm, and one that is quite similar to that of the robin. The quality is best described as a harsh whistle. The pitch varies from C”‘ to D””, and songs range from 1~ to 33~ tones each. Their length varies from 1% to 3 seconds.” The frequently uttered note commonly written Chip-churr (C’hiclc-kurr, I think, is better) may consist of two or three chips before the churr, according to Saunders, and Eugene P. Bicknell (1884) says: “Speaking of this well know [sic] chip-chir, Mr. Fred T. Jenks, of Providence, R. I., has called my attention to what is undoubtedly a clear instance of geographical variation in utterance. Mr. Jenks writes that he has observed that in Illinois and Indiana it has three notes, chip-chirree’.” William Brewster (1886a), speaking of North Carolina, says: “The song is normal, the call note chip-churr, as in New England, not chip-prairie, as in Southern Illinois.”

A. A. Saunders (MS.) says that during courtship “the female has a call in a somewhat husky whistle. It is a single note, sounding like whee or an upward slur, like puwee. Young birds that have recently left the nest sometimes go astray or get temporarily separated from the parents. In such cases, when they get hungry, they call, over and over, a note that is distinctive of the species, but not, so far as I am aware, ever used by adult birds. This call is a husky whistle of three connected notes with an upward inflection and may be written taylilee.”

Albert R. Brand (1938) gives the approximate mean vibration frequency of the tanager’s song as 2925, a little higher than that of the robin’s song.

Enemies: Herbert Friedmann (1929) reports that the scarlet tanager is “a fairly common victim” of the cowbird, and that it “is parasitized throughout most of its range.” Edward H. Forbush (1929) says of the tanager:.”His concealment among the leaves, together with his ventriloquial powers, must serve him well, for I have seldom found remains indicating the demise of one of these male birds by the talons of a hawk.”

Fall: Francis M. Weston (MS.) states: “Scarlet tanagers, usually single birds, pass through the Pensacola region in small numbers in October on their southward migration. It is very certain that the fall migration route of the species as a whole is not a reversal of the spring route for, in 30 years of observation, I have never seen a concentration of tanagers in fall under any conditions of favorable or adverse flying weather.” Alexander F. Skutch (MS.), speaking of Central America, says: “In the autumn I have met this tanager only twice. A female or young male was seen near Tela, Honduras, on October 7, 1930, and the same or another individual in the same locality on the following day.”

DISTRIBUTION
Range: Southern Canada from Manitoba eastward through Quebec south across centra.l and eastern United States to Per(i and Bolivia.

Breeding Range: The scarlet tanager breeds from central Nebraska (North Platte, Neligh), eastern North Dakota (Fargo, Grafton), southeastern Manitoba (Winnipeg, Indian Bay), centralwestern Ontario (Lac Seul, Port Arthur), northeastern Minnesota (Duluth), northern Michigan, southern Ontario (Liard, Lake Nipissing), southern Quebec (Montreal, Hatley), New Brunswick (Beechmount), and central and central-southern Maine (Kineo, Hancock County); south to central-northern and southeastern Oklahoma (Pushmataha County, McCurtain County), central Arkansas (Rich Mountain, Hot Springs National Park), west-central Tennessee (Wildersville), northwestern and central Alabama (Florence, Talladega Mountains), northern Georgia (East Point), northwestern South Carolina (Waihalla, Spartansburg), western North Carolina (Statesyule), central Virginia (Naruna, Petersburg), and Maryland. Reported breeding, but unconfirmed, in southeastern Manitoba (Brandon), and northeastern Texas (Tyler, Harrison County) .

Winter Range: Winters from northwestern and central Colombia (Remedios, Bogota Plateau) south through Ecuador to central Peru (Monterico, Chanchamayo) and central-western Bolivia (Yungas); casually north to El Salvador (Mount Cacaguatique, Pierto del Triunfo); accidental in North Carolina (Mount Olive).

Casual records: Casual in summer in Saskatchewan (Indian Head), Wyoming (Cheyenne), Colorado (Palmer Lake, Pueblo) and Texas (Pease River Valley, McLennan County. During migrations reported from Nova Scotia (Wolfville, Seal Island, Halifax), Bermuda, Bahama Islands (Andros, New Providence, Cay Lobos), Cuba, Jamaica, Mona Island, the Lesser Antilles (St. Croix, Barbuda, Antigua, Santa Lucia, Mustique, Barbados), and eastern Central America.

Accidental in Alaska (Point Barrow), British Columbia (Comox), California (San Nicolas Island), Arizona (Tucson), and Colorado (Grand Junction, New Castle, Pueblo, Fort Morgan); sight records from Ontario (Pancake Bay, Timmins), Western North Dakota (Charlson), and centra.l South Dakota (Faulkton, Rosebud Indian Reservation).

Migration: Early dates of spring arrival are: Costa Rica: El General, March 29. Quintana Roo: Chetumal. May 5. Yucatan: Dzidzantuin, April 26. Leeward Islands: Barbuda, April 29. Puerto Rico: Mona Island, May 3. Cuba: Havana, April 9. Bahama Islands: Cay Lobos, April 15. Bermuda: April 18. Florida: Princeton, March 25; Tortugas, ~vIarch 29; Pensacola, April 1 (median of 18 years, April 14). Alabama: Autaugaville, April 2; Decatur, April 11. Georgia: Savannah, April 1; Atlanta, April 4. South Carolina: Greenville, April 15; Spartanburg, April 20 (median of 17 years, April 26). North Carolina: Piney Creek, April 8; Raleigh, April 15 (average of 20 years, April 30). Virginia: Lynchburg, April 10; Naruna, April 19. West Virginia: Bluefield and Wheeling, April 15. District of Columbia, April 17 (average of 42 years, April 29). Maryland: Laurel, April 20 (median of 8 years, April 28). Pennsylvania: York, April 10; Warren, April 14. New Jersey: Morristown, April 12; Vineland, April 23. New York: New York City, April 19; Nyack, April 28. Connecticut: Old Saybrook, April 27. Rhode Island: Apponaug, April 4. Massachusetts: Hyannis, April 17; Vineyard Haven, April 18; Orange, April 22. Vermont: Rutland, May 4. New Hampshire: Hanover, May 4. Maine: Mount Desert Island: April 17; Yarmouth, April 19. Quebec: Hatley, May 15. New Brunswick: Bathurst, May 12. Nova Scotia: Westport, April 15; Bridgetown, May 1. Louisiana: Grand Isle, April 3. Mississippi: Rosedale, March 27; Deer Island, April 3. Arkansas: Rogers, April 4; Tillar, April 5. Tennessee: Nashville, April 6 (median of 12 years, April 17); Elizabethton, April 10. Kentucky: Lexington, April 14. Missouri: St. Louis, April 21. Illinois: Chicago region, April 1 (average, May 6); Murphysboro, April 10. Indiana: Richmond, April 15. Ohio: central Ohio, April 17 (average, April 30). Michigan: southern Michigan, April 6; Vicksburg, April 26; Saulte Ste. Marie, May 9. Ontario: St. Thomas, April 28; Ottawa, May 13 (average of 25 years, May 20). Iowa: Burlington and Keokuk, April 27. Wisconsin: Milwaukee, April 23. Minnesota: Hutchin-. son, April 26 (average of 34 years in southern Minnesota, May 11); Stearns County, May 9 (average of 23 years in northern Minnesota, May 18). Texas: Kemah, April 6; San Antonio and Austin, April 12. Kansas: Fort Leavenworth, April 16. Nebraska: Omaha, April 14; Stapleton, April 18. South Dakota: Yankton, May 4; Faulkton, May 7. North Dakota: Fargo, May 16. Manitoba: Treesbank and Reaburn, May 3. Saskatchewan: Indian Head, May 22. Colorado: Boulder, May 8.

Late dates of spring departure are: Ecuador: below San Jose, March 13. Panamd: Chiriqui, March 26. Costa Rica: El General, April 30. Windward Islands: St. Lucia, May 19. Bermuda: Ireland Island, May 6. Florida: Daytona Beach, May 12. Alabama: Long Island, May 6. Georgia: Atlanta, June 4. South Carolina: Charleston, May 22. North Carolina: Chapel Hill, May 20; Raleigh, May 14 (average 6 years, May 11). Virginia: Naruna, June 11. Maryland: Laurel, May 18 (median of 3 years, May 16). Massachusetts: Boston, May 27. Louisiana: Monroe, May 31. Mississippi: Oxford, May 24. Kentucky: Bardstown, May 24. Illinois: Chicago, June 1 (average of 16 years, May 26). Ohio: Buckeye Lake, median, May 23. Texas: Brownsville, May 22; Dallas County, May 21. Oklahoma: Tulsa County, May 22. Nebraska: Plattsmouth, June 2; Red Cloud, May 29. North Dakota: Jamestown, June 4. Colorado-Fort Morgan, June 10.

Early dates of fall arrival are: South Dakota: Faulkton, July 6. Nebraska: Hastings, July 14. Texas: Port Arthur, July 20. Illinois: Chicago, September 9 (average of 13 years, September 18). Kentucky: Bowling Green, September 6. Mississippi: Bay St. Louis, August 24. Louisiana: Thibodaux, August 25. Massachusetts: Nantucket, August 29. Maryland: Laurel, August 17. North Carolina: Raleigh, September 8 (average of 3 years, September 18). Georgia: Young Harris, August 12; Savannah, August 20. Alabama: Greensboro, September 18. Florida: Pensacola, September 9 (median of 15 years, September 25). Honduras: near Tela, October 7. El Salvador: Monte Mayor, October 6. Nicaragua: Rio Escondido, September 27. Costa Rica: Bonilla, October 3.

Late dates of fall departure are: British Columbia: Corn ox, November 17. Manitoba: Treesbank, August 27. INorth Dakota: Fargo, October 4. South Dakota: Yankton, September 29. Nebraska: Cedar Creek, October 7. Oklahoma: Tulsa County, October 1. Texas: Cove, October 19. Minnesota: Minneapolis, October 26 (average of 7 years, September 19); Isanti County, September 30 (average of 7 years in northern Minnesota, September 16). Wisconsin: Milwaukee, October 13; Mazomanie, October 7. Iowa: Marble Rock, September 30. Ontario: Point Pelee, October 14; Ottawa, October 8 (average of 11 years, September 14). Michigan: Sault Ste. Marie, October 21; Detroit, October 6. Ohio: Hillsboro, November 20; New Bremen, October 22; central Ohio, October 11 (average, September 23). Indiana: Richmond, October 15. Illinois, Rantoul, November 2; Chicago, October 6 (average of 13 years, September 28). Missouri: Bolivar, November 7. Kentucky: Danville, October 7. Tennessee: Elizabethton, October 13. Arkansas: Monticello, October 20. Mississippi: Saucier, November 13; Oriel, October 20. Quebec: Montreal, October 31; Hatley, September 14. Maine: Castine, November 6; Mount Desert Island, October 14. New Hampshire: Sandwich, October 15; Jefferson region, October 12. Vermont: Bennington, October 7. Massachusetts: Brockton, November 11; Concord, November 8. Rhode Island: Kingston, October 24; Providence, October 6. Connecticut: West Hartford, October 21; Stamford, October 15. New York: -Watertown, November 3; Orient, October 19. New Jersey: Englewood, October 22. Pennsylvania-Germantown, November 3; Renovo, October 13; Berks County, October 3 (average of 14 years, September 21). Maryland: Baltimore, October 23. District of Columbia, November 13 (average of 21 years, October 4). West Virginia: Bluefield, November 15. Virginia: Lexington, November 17. North Carolina: Weaverville, October 20; Raleigh, October 17 (average of 3 years, October 8). Georgia: Atlanta, October 29. Alabama: Greensboro, October 16. Florida: St. Marks, October 25; Pensacola, October 24 (median of 16 years, October 16). Bermuda: October 17.

Egg dates: Connecticut: 16 records, June 1 to June 22; 10 records, June 3 to June 8.

Illinois: 11 records, May28 to Aug. 2; 6 records, June 9 to June 26.

Massachusetts: 42 records, May 24 to June 25; 23 records, May 28 to June 6.

Pennsylvania: 7 records, May 27 to June 11 .