He may say, as some people think he does, 'Pshaw! wait--wait--wait for me, wait!' but he does not wait a moment if he thinks he is seen.
"He is very fond of water, both for bathing and drinking, and seldom nests far from it.

Whether he uses the quiet ponds and smooth streams also for a looking-glass to comb his hair and arrange his gay coat by, we cannot be sure, but he always looks as trig as if he had some such aid.
"The Tanager children are curious things.

Sometimes they wear coats of many colors, like Joseph's." "Why is that ?" asked Nat.
"The reason is this.

You remember I told you that young birds usually wear plain feathers like their mothers ?" "Oh, yes," said Rap; "so that it is hard to see them until they have sense enough to take care of themselves." "Precisely! Now, Mother Tanager is greenish and yellow, and Father Tanager is scarlet and black.

The young ones come from the nest looking like their mother, but as they shed their baby clothes and gain new feathers, bits of red and black appear here and there on the little boys, until they look as if they had on a crazy-quilt of red, yellow, green, and black.