Western Tanager

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 Western Tanager – the common name and sub-species reflect the nomenclature in use at the time the description was written.

For many years after its discovery this brilliantly colored bird was known as the Louisiana tanager, as indicated in Wilson’s scientific name, which it still bears. The name seems wholly inappropriate today, for it is only a rare migrant in what we now know as the State of Louisiana. But, at the time of its discovery, what was then known as the Louisiana Purchase, or the Territory of Louisiana, extended from the Mississippi River to the Continental Divide and northward to British Columbia. As the bird was widely distributed over much of that territory, the name seemed more suitable.

The first specimens were obtained by members of the Lewis and Clark party on their journey across the northwestern territories of this country, and the frail specimens that they obtained were figured and named by Wilson. Later, Townsend and Nuttall obtained some better specimens, from which Audubon (1841, vol. 3) drew his beautiful plate; Audubon quotes Nuttall as saying:

“We first observed this fine bird ma thick belt of wood near Lorimer’s Fork of the Platte, on the 4th of June, at a considerable distance to the east of the first chain of the Rocky Mountains (or Black Hills), so that the species in all probability continues some distance down the Platte. We have also seen them very abundant in the spring, in the forests of the Columbia, below Fort Vancouver. On the Platte they appeared shy and almost silent, not having there apparently commenced breeding. About the middle of May we observed the males in small numbers scattered through the dark pine forests of the Columbia, restless, shy, and flitting when approached, but at length more sedentary when mated.”

The western tanager breeds from northwestern British Columbia and southwestern Mackenzie to southern California, southern Arizona, and central-western Texas, mainly in the mountains in the southern portions of its range, and shows a decided preference for the coniferous forests of pines or firs.

In western Washington, in the vicinity of Tacoma and Seattle, we found this tanager common at lower levels, usually at an elevation of 1,500 feet or less, wherever there was a growth of tall Douglas firs, but S. F. Rathbun told me that he sometimes found it as high as 4,000 feet in the mountains.

It is a common summer resident in the western half of Montana, where Aretas A. Saunders (1921) says that it breeds “in the Transition and Canadian zones, showing a marked preference for forests of Douglas fir on the east side of the divide, and for mixed forests of Douglas fir, yellow pine and larch on the west side. Occurs in migration in cottonwood groves in the valleys.”

In the Uinta Basin, Utah, Arthur C. Twomey (1942) found that “this species ranges through a number of altitudinal communities, varying from 7,500 to 10,000 feet, from the yellow pine, blue spruce, aspen, and lodgepole pine, to the alpine fir Communities .

“Western tanagers frequently were heard singing from the tops of the highest cottonwoods along the Green River during May, but at no time were they ever numerous. The last to be seen and taken (June 9) in the low country was a female with well-developed ovaries. The following day, June 10, a trip was made to the yellow-pine forests at Green Lake. Here the western tanagers were at the height of their breeding season. Males could be heard from all corners of the forest, singing their clear song.”

H. W. Henshaw (1875) says: “In 1873, in Southern Colorado, the species was found in small numbers among the cottonwoods along the streams, at an elevation of about 7,500 feet. On reaching the pines, at an elevation of about 9,000 feet, they were found to be present in much greater numbers, and at 10,000 feet were still common.”

In California, the western tanager occurs as a breeding bird in the coniferous forests of the mountain ranges throughout the State, more sparingly in the coastal ranges, and more abundantly in the Sierra Nevada, where it breeds from 3,000 feet up to the summits. On migrations it occurs over the entire length and breadth of the State, even in the lowlands. Referring to the Lassen Peak region, Grinnell,

Dixon, and Linsdale (1930) say: “During the migrations through the western part of the section tanagers were most often observed perched in the blue oaks, valley oaks, or digger pines. During the summer the birds were found in the pines, incense cedars, and firs in the mountainous portion of the section.”

In the San Bernardino Mountains, Grinnell (1908) found it breeding at from 6,500 to 8,000 feet.

In the Guadalupe Mountains of western Texas, Burleigh and Lowery (1940) found that the “western tanager was limited in its distribution during the summer months to the thick fir woods at the tops of the ridges and was not noted at this season of the year below an altitude of 8,000 feet.”

In the iluachuca Mountains of Arizona, we found this tanager in the wooded canyons at elevations around 7,000 feet. After I left, two nests were found by my companion, Frank C. Willard, one on June 7 and the other on the 14th.

Spring: Frederick C. Lincoln (1939) outlines the spring migration of the western tanager as follows:

On the spring migration the birds enter the United States about April 20, appearing first in western Texas and the southern parts of New Mexico and Arizona. By April 30, the van has advanced evenly to an approximately eastand-west line across central New Mexico, Arizona, and southern California. But by May 10, the easternmost birds have advanced only to southern Colorado, while those in the Far West have reached northern Washington. Ten days later the northern front of the species is a great curve, extending northeastward from Vancouver Island to Central Alberta, and thence southeastward to northern Colorado. Since these Tanagers do not reach northern Colorado until May 20, it is evident that those present in Alberta on that date, instead of having traveled northward through the Rocky Mountains, which from the location of their summer and winter homes would seem to be the natural route, have reached that province by a route through the interior of California, Oregon and Washington to southern British Columbia and thence across the mountains, despite the fact that these are still partly covered with snow at that time.

Harry S. Swarth (1904) says of the migration in the vicinity of the Iluachuca Mountains in southern Arizona: “They are fairly common during the spring migration, the first noted being on April 26, but are more abundant in the lower oak regions than elsewhere, going in flocks of ten or twelve, often in company with the Black-headed Grosbeaks. Such flocks were seen throughout May and early June, after which they disappeared.”

W. Otto Emerson (1903) writes of a heavy spring flight in southern California:

One of the most wonderful occurrences of the movements of birds in the season of migration, which ever came under my notice, took place at Haywards during May, 1896, when countless numbers of Piranga ludoviciana, or Louisiana tanagers, began to make their appearance between May 12 and 14. From the 18th to the 22nd they were to be seen in endless numbers, moving off through the hills and canyons to their summer breeding range in the mountains. This continued trn the 28th, and by June 1 only here and there a straggling member of the flock was to be seen .

They were first found feeding on early cherries, in an orchard situated along the steep bank of a creek, on the edge of rolling hills, well covered with a thick young growth of live oaks, which faced the orchard on the east. To this thick cover they would fly, after filling themselves with cherries, and rest till it was time to eat again. This they would keep up from daylight till dark, coming and going singly all day, without any noise whatever being heard.

Two men were kept busy shooting them as fast as they came iuto the trees which lay on the side next to the oak-covered hills. The tanagers at first seemed to take no notice of the gun reports, simply flying to other parts of the orchard. * * * After the first week, I found on going here (May 17), that dozens on dozens of the birds were lying about. For the first two weeks the birds so found were mostly males, but later on the greater numbers were composed of females and young of the year.* * *

Mr. H. A. Gaylord of Pasadena, Cal., in a letter under date of June 16, 1896, states that ‘they were seen singly from April 23 to May 1. From this date up to May 5 their numbers were greatly increased, and by May 5 there was an unusually large number of them. Then for about ten days, until May 16, the great wave of migration was at its height.” * * * He also says, “the damage done to cherries in one orchard was so great that the sales of the the fruit which was left, did not balance the bills paid out for poison and ammunition. The tanagers lay all over the orchard, and were, so to speak, ‘corded up’ by hundreds under the trees.”

Through Oregon and Washington the western tanagers migrate in large numbers, widely spread through the valleys and open country. Gabrielson and Jewett (1940) write: “In migration, the Western Tanagers excite a great deal of comment, particularly when unusual weather conditions force them to stop over. In late May 1920 we were together in Harney County when a sudden heavy snowfall forced down a multitude of migrating birds, many of which remained for several days. It was curious to walk through the sagebrush and see the topmost stalks flame-tipped with the brilliant yellow, red, and black of these birds. Along with them were numbers of Hermit Warblers and Gray Flycatchers, certainly a combination odd enough to intrigue anyone’s interest.”

Referring to El Paso County, Cob., Aiken and Warren (1914) say that these tanagers “arrive from the south in small flocks of from 3 or 4 to 7 or 8, and in migration are found well out on the plains.~~ Neating: As the western tanager generally spends the breeding season among coniferous trees, the nests are usually built in pines or firs, rarely in a tamarack, and occasionally in oaks or aspens. Thomas D. Burleigh (1921) mentions four nests found near Warland, Mont., one June 4 with five slightly incubated eggs, another June 6 with four incubated eggs, a third June 22 with four well incubated eggs, and the last July 1 with four fresh eggs. These varied from twenty five to thirty-five feet from the ground and were all at the outer end of limbs of large Douglas firs. All were alike in construction, being compactly built of fir twigs and rootlets, lined with rootlets and a few horse hairs. The female was incubating on the first nest and would not flush and finally had to be lifted from the nest by hand.”

S. F. Rathbun records in his notes a nest found near Seattle that was in an unusual situation: “It was but ten feet above the ground, being placed on one of the lower limbs of a small fir growing by the side of a well-used path leading to a house surrounded by trees. The nest was directly over the path, but three feet from a small electric light attached to the trunk of the tree. Being so well built into the small twigs growing from the place of attachment, the nest was hardly discernible from beneath and was found by seeing the female alight on the limb and fail to appear.”

Near Fort Klamath, Oreg., Dr. J. C. Merrill (1888) found the nests usually in pines or firs, but one “was in a young aspen about six feet from the ground.”

W. L. Dawson (1923) says that, in California, the nest is usually placed on “some horizontal branch of fir or pine, from six to fifty feet high, and from three to twenty feet out.* * *

“The nest is quite a substantial affair though rather roughly put together, of fir twigs, rootlets, and moss, with a more or less heavy lining of horse- or cow-hair, and other soft substances.”

I have a set in my collection, taken by Chester Barlow in El Dorado County, Calif., from a nest 40 feet up on the limb of a black oak, and another, taken by Virgil W. Owen in Los Angeles County, from a nest 30 feet up in the top of a live oak. In some notes received a long time ago from Owen he states that, in the Chiicahua Mountains, Ariz., the nests are usually in pine trees, but that he “has examined several in sycamore trees.”

One of the two Arizona nests found by Willard referred to above, was only 15 feet from the ground in a small fir tree; the other was 65 feet up, near the end of a 30-foot limb of a large pine tree (p1. 30). Claude T. Barnes (MS.) found a nest in a canyon near Salt Lake City, Utah, that was “placed on the fork of a horizontal limb of a mountain balsam (Abies lasiocarpa),” about 12 feet above his head.

Eggs: The western tanager lays from three to five eggs to a set, perhaps most often three in the southern portions of its range. In 15 sets taken by Owen in ~outhern Arizona, 10 contained three eggs and only five were sets of four. They are ovate in shape, with some tendency toward short ovate, and are moderately glossy. The following description is taken from notes sent to me by William George F. Harris. The ground color may be “pale Nile blue,” “bluish glaucous,~~ “deep bluish glaucous,” or “Etain blue.” The eggs are marked with irregular specks, spots or blotches of “raw umber,” “mummy brown,” “Prout’s brown,” or “Saccardo’s umber.” These markings are generally well distributed over the entire egg; even so, there is usually a concentration toward the large end, and often a distinct wreath is formed. On some of the finely speckled eggs the browns are so dark aa to appear almost black. The undertones of “brownish drab” or “deep brownish drab” are usually more pronounced on the more heavily marked eggs, and entirely lacking on others.

The measurements of 50 eggs average 22.9 by 16.8 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extreme measure 25.9 by 16.3, 23.0 by 19.1, 20.3 by 16.3, and 23.9 by 15.2 millimeters.

Young: Mrs. Irene G. Wheelock (1904) writes: “Incubation lasts thirteen days, and is performed by the mother bird alone, the male rarely if ever going to the nest until the brood are hatched. As soon as the nestlings are out of the shell, however, he assumes his full share of the labor of feeding them. In the case of one brood at Slippery Ford in the Sierra Nevada, the male brought fifteen large insects and countless smaller ones in the half hour between half-past four and five one June morning. During most of the day the trips to the nest with food averaged ten minutes apart. The longest period of fasting was twenty-three minutes, and the shortest one and one-half minutes.” The nest was too high up for her to positively identify the food, but she saw the old birds catch insects for them in the air, and thought she recognized caterpillars and dragon-flies in the bills of the parents.

In a nest containing large young, watched for an hour by Claude T. Barnes (MS.), the male fed the young seven times and the female fed them four times. The longest interval between feedings was ten minutes and the shortest one minute. The food consisted of insects and larvae.

Plumages: Dr. Dwight (1900) describes the juvenal plumage of the western tanager as “above, yellowish green obscurely streaked. Wings and tail dull black, edged with olive-yellow, forming on the coverts two wing bands. Below, pale yellow with dusky streaks on the breast, similar to the young of other Tanagers.” A. D. Du Bois (MS.) describes a small nestling, recently out of the nest, as “conspicuously marked with buff and blackish about the head, the crown being buff, bordered by broad black stripes.”

The postjuvenal molt, which occurs in July in California, involves the contour plumage and the wing coverts but not the rest of the wings nor the tail. It produces a first winter plumage which differs from the juvenal in being unstreaked and brighter colored. Dwight describes the young male as, “above, olive-yellow, brownish on the back, the wing bands strongly tinged with lemon-yellow, the one at the tips of greater coverts palest. Below, clear lemon-yellow, a slight orange tinge often on forehead and chin.”

A. J. van Rossem has sent me the following notes on the molts and plumages of the males: “From the well-known postjuvenal [first winter] plumage, which is very similar to that of the adult female, they change, in the latter part of March or the first part of April, into a plumage similar to that of the adult, except that the dusky, greenish rectrices, primaries with their coverts, and secondaries are retained. The secondary coverts and tertials are renewed with the body plumage; the renewal of the tertials is usual, but not invariable. It may he unilateral or bilateral, and may involve one, two, or three pairs of feathers. The alula is occasionally renewed also. While there is considerable variation among individuals, these one-year-old males are, as a whole, somewhat less brilliant than the adults. The black of the upper part is duller and more or less intermixed with greenish; the red on the head paler, less intense, and more restricted in area; and the yellows decidedly duller and less brilliant.

“At the fall [first postnuptial] molt, the dusky flight and tail feathers are replaced with the black ones of maturity. The fall body plumage is substantially like that of the adult nuptial, save that the head is yellowish green instead of red, and most of the feathers are tipped with olive. This tipping is most pronounced dorsally, but is apparent also across the breast. The chin and throat are nearly concolor with the rest of the under parts .

“The adult spring plumage is attained in much the same manner as is the first nuptial. Whether this is a complete body molt, as is the case with the first nuptial, is uncertain. There is no question as to the entire anterior half of the body. The posterior half is molted to at least a considerable degree, but whether the spring molt of the adult includes all the posterior half, and such wing feathers as are replaced in the one-year-old, it is impossible to say at this time; the evidence is that it does not.”

Dwight (1900) says of the plumages of the female: “The plumages and moults correspond to those of the male. The juvenal dress is practically indistinguishable from that of the male. The first winter plumage is rather duller, being browner above and paler below. The first nuptial plumage is aequired by a very limited prenuptial moult, such wing coverts as are acquired being duller than those of the male and the few orange-tinged feathers paler, the whole bird paler and grayish. The adult winter plumage is brighter than the first winter, and in adult nuptial plumage a few orange feathers may appear acquired by prenuptial moult.”

Food: F. E. L. Beal (1907) examined only 46 stomachs of the western tanager, taken in various parts of California from April to September, inclusive. The food in these consisted of over 82 percent insects and nearly 18 percent fruit. Of the insect food, he says:

The largest item of the animal food is Hymenoptera, most of which are wasps, with some ants. Altogether they amount to 56 percent of the food for the six months, and in August they reach 75 percent. * * * Hemiptera stand next in importance, with 8 percent. They are mostly stink-bugs, with a few cicadas. Beetles amount to 12 percent of the food, of which less than 1 percent are useful Carabidae. The remainder are mostly click-beetles (Elateridae) and the metallic wood-borers (Buprestidac), two very harmful familics. The former in the larval stage are commonly known as wireworms, and bore into and destroy or badly injure many plants. The Buprestidac, while in the larval stage, are wood-borers of the worst description. Grasshoppers were eaten to the amount of 4 percent, and caterpillars to the extent of less than 2 percent.

The greater part of the fruit eaten appeared to be the pulp of some large kind like peaches or apricots. One stomach contained seed.s of elderberries; another the seeds and stems of mulberries, and two the seeds of raspberries or blackberries. Nearly all these stomachs were collected in the mountains, away from extensive orchards, but still the birds had obtained some fruit, probably cultivated.

It is to be regretted that the stomachs of those birds killed in the cherry orchards were not saved; they might have told a different story.

In Nevada, Robert Ridgway (1877) noted that in May these tanagers ‘~were very numerous in the rich valley of the Truckee, near Pyramid Lake, where they were observed to feed chiefly on the buds of the grease-wood bushes (Obione confertifolia), in company with the Black-headed Grosbeak’and Bullock’s Oriole. * * * In September they were noticed to feed extensively on the fruit of the Crataegus rivularis, in company with the Red-shafted Flicker, Gairdner’s Woodpecker, the Cedar-bird, and the Cross-bills (Loxia americana and L. leucoptera).”

Dawson (1923) says: “A lady in Monticito, noting the predilection of the birds for fruit, had a wheel-like arrangement placed on top of a stake driven in her lawn. Upon the end of each spoke half an orange, freshly cut, was made secure. The Tanager saw and appreciated; and the lady had the satisfaction of seeing as many as twelve Tanagers feeding on the wheel at one time.”

Rathbun sent me the following note: “Aug. 15, 1922. This evening shortly before sunset, we noticed one of these birds in the garden. This individual was busy catching flying ants, termites (Termopsis angu.stieolli.s), its actions while so doing being identical with those of the flycatchers. We could plainly see the bird take these insects from the air, and on one occasion it ascended straight upward 40 feet and captured one of the insects with the greatest ease, then dropped almost vertically to the spot from which it flew. During intervals of watching from its perch the tanager would remain perfectly motionless with the exception of moving its head from side to side while scanning the air. No attempt made by it was unsuccessful.”

Mrs. Wheelock (1904) tells of young tanagers fly-catching among the pines late in August: “They were following the flycatcher fashion of catching insects on the wing, beginning when the sun touched the tops of the trees and moving downward as the day advanced and the insect life nearer the ground awoke to activity. In like manner they retreated to the tree tops as the shadows fell in the afternoon.”

Economic status: The damage done to the ripening cherries in California during the spring migration of these tanagers apparently can be quite serious at times, but this does not occur every spring and then only when the migration which often follows the foothills of the mountain ranges far away from the large fruit orchards, is unusually heavy. This tanager destroys many injurious insects, and a careful study of its food will show that it is about 80 percent beneficial and probably not over 20 percent harmful.

Behavior: As evidence that the western tanager is not too shy, I quote the following from some notes sent to me by A. Dawes Du Bois: “Flathead County, Mont., July 24, 1914: There was quite an assemblage of birds at the spring this morning, waiting their turns for a bath. I stood on the brink of the spring with one foot braced up the slope. A young Louisiana tanager bathed at my feet. Its mother came, with food in her bill, to a branch less than 3 feet from my head, but, becoming suspicious, did not feed. Instead, she uttered signal notes, addressed no doubt to the young one. It paid little heed, looked me over and bathed again; then sat on a low branch close to my feet and preened its feathers. Father tanager came: gorgeous in his coat of many colors: and, as I stood like a statue, he hopped on the ground beneath me, between my feet, but did not go in for a bath.”

Barnes (MS) says: “The flight is in an unwavering line with fairly rapid wing beats.”

Voice: Aretas A. Saunders writes to me: “In my experience with this species in Montana, the song of this bird is very similar to that of the scarlet tanager. Perhaps, if I had made records at that time, I would have found a definite difference, but. the general sound of the song certainly is very similar, if not identical.”

My impression of the song of the western tanager, as I heard it in British Columbia in 1911, was that it rcsemhled the robinlike song of the scarlet tanager. Rathbun says in his notes: “The tanager seems to chant its song. Some of its notes are a reminder of cert.ain of the robin’s, but have roughness lacking in the former. But its song is very pleasing, carrying a suggestion of the wildness and freedom of the woodland: not of the country that has felt the influence of mankind.”

W. Leon Dawson (1923) writes: “While chiefly silent during the migrations, the arrival of the birds upon their chosen summer sites is betokened by the frequent utterance of a pettish pit-ic or pit-itic. The full-voiced song grows with the season, but at its best it is little more than an etude in R. * * * can detect no constant difference between the song of the Western Tanager and that of the Scarlet Tanager (P. erythromelas), save that that of the former is oftener prefaced with the call note, thus: Piteric whew, we soor a-ary e-eerie witooer. This song, however, is less frequently heard than that of the Scarlet Tanager, East.”

Ralph Hoffmann (1927) says of it: “A Tanager is always deliberate and often sits for a long period on one perch singing short phrases at longish intervals. The song sounds much like a Robin’s; it is made up of short phrases with rising and falling inflections pir-ri pir-ri pee-un pir-ri pee-wi. It is hoarser than a Robin’s, lower in pitch and rarely continued for more than four or five phrases; it lacks the joyous ringing quality of the Robin’s. The Tanager’s call note is one of the most characteristic sounds of the mountains of California and the evergreen forests in the lowlands of Oregon and Washington. It may be written prit-it or pri-titick, followed often by a lower chert-it.”

He writes the note of the young as chi-wee, “suggesting the note of the young Willow Goldfinch or the call of the Purple Finch.” Du Bois (MS.) calls it “a musical pe-o-weet,” the middle note low.

Field marks: The adult male western tanager is umnistakable, with his brilliant yellow body, his black back, tail, and wings and with a touch of red on his head; his colors fairly gleam among the dark green of the conifers. His mate is more quietly colored, olive above and yellow below, with no black in her plumage and rarely a tinge of orange on her forehead; she might be mistaken for a female scarlet tanager, except for her two white wing bars. The white, or yellowish white, wing bars are characters of the species at all ages or seasons. The call note is more distinctive than the song.

Enemies: The Nevada cowbird has been known, but only in a few cases, to lay its eggs in nests of the western tanager. Probably the tanager has other feathered and furred enemies, but the sharpshinned hawk seems to be the only one recorded .

Fall: S. F. Rathbun tells me that, in western Washington, the autumnal migration begins about the middle of August and continues up to the middle of September. Farther south, where the birds breed in the mountains, they descend to the foothills and valleys in August before they start on their southward migration to a warmer climate.

A. J. van Rossem (1936), referring to the Charleston Mountains in Nevada, says:

The first evidence of migration was noted about mid-August, when there was an obvious decrease in the number of the tanagers about our camp, and by the 28th of the month the species was so rare that perhaps not more than one a day would he seen at the spring. There seemed to be a gap in the time between the departure of the summer visitants and the arrival of extraterritorial migrants, for on September 11 and 15 we found small flocks migrating commonly at Indian Springs and on the 14th numbers were observed up to 8,500 feet in Lee OaAon. The latest date we have is October 7, 1931, at which time a single bird was taken at the lower (8,200 feet) spring in Lee Cation. In the Sheep Mountains tanagers were migrating commonly through the yellow-pine zone from September 16 to 19, 1930.”

Swarth (1904) says that in the Huachuca Mountains, in Arizona, western tanagers reappeared on the fall migration “about the third week in July, rapidly increasing in numbers from then on. Throughout August they remained in large flocks composed mostly of young birds and females, with but a sprinkling of old males, and their favorite food at this time seemed to be the wild cherries, of which there is an abundance in the mountains.”

In the Uinta Basin, in Utah, according to Twomey (1942): “The main fall migration wave struck the lower river valleys of the Basin during the first two weeks of September. They never were seen in any numbers at this time. They seemed to scatter over the vaUeys and to move rapidly south. After the middle of September no further individuals were observed.”

Winter: The main winter range of the western tanager is from central M4xico and Cape San Lucas southward to Costa Rica, according to the 1931 A. 0. U. Check-List. Dickey and van Rossem (1938) say of its status in El Salvador:

Common, at times even abundant, winter visitant everywhere in the Arid Lower Tropical Zone and locally in adjacent parts of the oak and pine regions. Found from sea level to 3,500 feet.* * *

It was rather surprising to find western tanagers wintering so commonly nearly 200 miles south of the southernmost point from which they were previously known.

The first arrivals to be detected were two old males which were seen in the mimosa thickets at Divisadero November 12, 1925. No more were observed until collecting was started on Mt. Cacaguatique November 20, 1925, when the species was found to be extremely common everywhere through the coffee and also in the pines and oaks a few hundred feet higher. From the latter part of December until the middle of February, western tanagers were generally distributed everywhere over the lowlands, but later on were again found only above 2,000 feet. The impression in the field was that they arrived via the highlands, that part of the population spread out over the lowlands during the winter and then retired again to the hills for the short period remaining before the northward flight. At any rate, none was seen at any locality below 2,000 feet after February 19, though there were plenty of birds above that level for over two months longer.

There were no marked migrations at any time. The departure was a gradual one with ever-decreasing numbers in evidence after April 1. The last individual noted was taken at Chilata April 23, 1927.

DISTRIBUTION
Range: Southern Alaska and central-western Canada south across western United States to Costa Rica.

Breeding Range: The western tanager breeds from southern Alaska (lower Stikine River), northern British Columbia (Glenora, Peace River parkiands), southwestern and central-southern Mackenzie (Fort Liard, Fort Smith), northeastern Alberta (Fort Chipewyan), and central Saskatchewan (Nipawin); south to northern Baja California (Sierra Ju~rez, Sierra San Pedro M~rtir), southern Nevada (Charleston Mountains), southwestern Utah (Zion Park), central and southeastern Arizona (Bill Williams Mountain, south to Santa Catalina, Santa Rita, Huachuca, and Chiricahua Mountains), southwestern New Mexico (Black Mountains), and western Texas (Guadalupe, Davis, and Chisos Mountains); east to western South Dakota (Short Pines Hills, Black Hills), northwestern Nebraska (Black Hills), and central Colorado (Colorado Springs, Beulab). One breeding record for southern Wisconsin (Jefferson County).

Winter Range: Winters from southern Baja California (La Paz, Miraflores), Jalisco (Cruz de Vallarta), and southern Tamaulipas (Gflemes, Altamira); south on the Pacific side of the Continental Divide through Guatemala and El Salvador to northwestern Costa Rica (Tempate); casually north to CaJifornia (Santa Barbara, San Diego), southeastern Arizona (Tucson) and southern Texas (Brownsville).

Casual records: Accidental in northern Alaska (Point Barrow), Yukon (ßKlluane), Minnesota, central Nebraska, Missouri, eastern Texas, Louisiana (New Orleans, Grand Isle), Mississippi (Gulfport), Quebec (Kamouraska), Maine (Bangor), Massachusetts (Lynn, Brookline), New York (Highland Falls), and Connecticut (New Haven).

Migration: Early dates of spring arrival are: Tamaulipas: G6mez Farias region, March 29. Nucvo Le6n: Monterrey, April 16. Sinaloa: Arroyo de Limones, April 16. Sonora: Alamos, March 30. Louisiana: Jefferson Parish, March 19. Minnesota: Minneapolis, May 11. Texas: Port Arthur, April 17; El Paso, April 18. Kansas: Morton County, May 2. Nebraska: North Platte, May 8. South Dakota: Custer City, May 24. Manitoba: Brandon, June 7. Saskatchewan: Big River, May 23. Mackenzie: Grand Rapids, May 21; Fort Simpson, May 31. New Mexico: Albuquerque, April 22. Arizona: Tombstone, April 8; Tucson, April 13 (median of 6 years, April 30). Colorado: Colorado Springs, May 2 (median of 26 years, May 18). Utah: Saint George, May 13. Wyoming: Wheatland, May 1; Laramie, May 13 (average of 11 years, May 23). Idabo: Grangeville, May 10; Meridian, May 13 (median of 4 years, May 16). Montana: Fortine, May 9 (median of 21 years, May 20). Alberta: Banif, April 30 (median of 7 years, May 21) ; Pelican Portage, Athabasca River, May 19. California: San Clemente Island, March 23; Los Angeles County, April 7 (median of 27 years, May 1). Nevada : Carson City, May 2; Colorado River, Clark County, May 7. Oregon: Josephine County, April 11. Coos County, May 1 (median of 7 years, May 5). Washington: Shelton, April 15 (median of 5 years, May 3); Spokane, April 24 (median of 6 years, May 5). Britisb Columbia: Okanagan Landing, April29 (median of 18 years, May 10); Comox, Vancouver Island, May 4 (median of 24 years, May 13). Alaska: Point Barrow region (only record), May 24 .

Late dates of spring departure are: El Salvador: Chilata, April 23. Guatemala: La Perla, April 8. Michoacn: TacAmbaro, April 28. San Luis Potosi: Tamazunchale, April 22. Sonora: Hacienda de San Rafael, May 18. Baja California-San Antonio del Mar, April 28. Louisiana: Grand Isle, May 11. Kansas: Finney County, June 1. Nebraska: North Platte and Stapleton, May 27. Arizona: Whetstone Mountains, June 2; Casa Grande, June 1. Colorado: Denver, June 6 (median of 15 years, May 25); Yuma, June 4. California: Berkeley, June 7; Pasadena, May 26. Nevada: Humboldt National Forest, Elko County, May 31.

Early dates of fall arrival are: Washington: Yakima, July 24. Oregon: Weston, July 1. California: Death Valley, July 3; Berkeley, July 17 (median of 14 years, August 13). Colorado: Beulah, July31 (median of 5 years, August 3). Arizona: Mount Trumbull Region, August 4; Phoenix and Whetstone Mountains, August 12. New Mexico: Cloudcroft, July 18. Manitoba: Brandon, July 19. Texas: Palo Duro State Park, August 10; El Paso, Brenkam, and Commerce, August 29. Baja California: San Lucas, September 27. Sonora: San Bernardino Ranch, August 28. Coahuila: Las Delicias, August 12. Guatemala: Panajachel, November 11. El Salvador: Divisadero, November 12. Honduras: Tegucigalpa, November 2.

Late dates of fall departure are: British Columbia: Marpole, Kootenay District, October 8; Okanagan Landing, September 16 (median of 13 years, September 6); Hazelton, August 30. Washington: Seattle, October 16 (median of 5 years, Septbemer 23); Spokane, September 29. Oregon: Kiamath County, September 28; Forest Grove, September 25. Nevada: Lee Cafion, Clark County, October 7; Carson City, September 18. California: Oakland, November 2 (median of 15 years at Berkeley, September 25). Alberta: Henry House, September 10. Montana: Fortine, September 25 (median of 18 years, August 27). Idaho: Bayview, September 24. Wyoming: Laramie, October 22 (median of 10 years, October 2). Utah: Green Lake, Uinta Basin, September 15. Colorado: Pueblo, October 14; Fort Morgan, October 11 (median of 14 years, September 28). Arizona: Tonto Basin, October 9. New Mexico: Clayton, October 3. Mackenzie: Fort Resolution, July 12. Manitoba: Treesbank, September 4. South Dakota: Rapid City, October 2. Nebraska: Sioux County, October 1. Oklahoma: Kenton, September 25. Texas: El Paso, September 25. Mississippi: Gulfport, October 25. Sonora: Caborca, October 30 .

Egg dates: Alberta: 4 records, June 7 to June 15.

California: 50 records, May 7 to July 15; 25 i~ecords, June 10 to June 21.

Colorado: 6 records, May19 to June28; 3 records, June11 to June 14. Oregon: 10 records, June 11 to July 8; 5 records, June 13 to June 21.