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Scarlet Tanager; Red-bird
Adult male--In summer bright scarlet, except the wings and tail, which are black.
Adult female--Yellowish green; more yellow and lighter on the breast; wings and tail dull brown. Length--7.25.
In the autumn and winter the male is greenish, with black wings and tail.
Breeding Range--From South Carolina northward.
The nest is a thin, flimsy structure of fine roots, tendrils, small sticks, and sometimes straws, placed in a tree, usually on a horizontal branch (seldom in a crotch) at from six to twenty-five feet from the ground.
The eggs, numbering from 3 to 5 (3 being a very common number), are clear greenish blue, finely spotted, mostly at the larger end, with chestnut and purple. Size--.96 x .65. See Fig. 13, Plate D.
The Scarlet Tanager builds his nest in almost any sort of tree and in almost any sort of place. In orchards the nests are common; along the roadsides, on the edge of woods, they often build, and occasionally a nest is found in the deep woods, at some distance from a clearing. The breeding season commences towards the end of May; in the vicinity of New York, before June 1st. The period of incubation occupies thirteen days.