340 FRINGILLIDA. 
secondaries. ‘The tail is very long and rounded. The general plumage of the male is 
scarlet, and there is a very distinct occipital crest. : 
1. Cardinalis virginianus. 
Loxia cardinalis, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 300°. 
Fringilla cardinalis, Licht. Preis-Verz. mex. Vég. p. 1, cf. J. f. Orn. 1863, p. 56°. 
Cardinals virginianus, Bp. P. Z. S. 1837, p. 111°; Baird, Mex. Bound. Surv. ii., Birds, p. 17°; 
Scl. P. Z.S. 1856, p. 302’; 1859, pp. 365°, 378"; Dresser, Ibis, 1865, p. 491°; Salv. Ibis, 
1866, p. 193°; Dugés, La Nat.i. p. 139”; Lawr. Ann. Lyc. N.Y. ix. p. 201"; Sumichrast, 
Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. i. p. 552”; Baird, Brew., & Ridgw. N. Am. B. ii. p.100"; Sennett 
. Bull. U.S. Geol. Surv. iv. p. 21"; v. p. 894"; Boucard, P. Z. S. 1883, p. 444.°°. 
Cardinalis virginianus, var. coccineus, Baird, Brew., & Ridgw. N. Am. B. ii. p. 99”. 
3 
Coccineus, dorso multo obscuriore et plumis plerumque cinereo-fusco terminatis ; alis fuscis extus rubro indutis ; 
cauda fusco-rubra, crista occipitali elongata coccinea, fronte angusta, loris, regione suboculari et gula nigris ; 
rostro rubro, pedibus carneis. Long. tota 7°7, ale 3-6, caude 4, rostri a rictu 0°75, tarsi 1-0. 
mari aliquot similis, sed colore coccineo alis, caudee et cristeo restricto, dorso sordide olivaceo ; subtus sordide 
ochracea, pectore obscuriore. (Descr. maris et femine ex Jalapa, Mexico. Mus. nostr. ) 
Hab. North America!, southern portions of United States, Rio Grande Valley 1, 
Texas * 1415, Bermuda !°.—MeExico??, Nuevo Leon (Couch +), Guanajuato (Dugés), 
State of Vera Cruz in winter (Swmichrast 12), Cordova (Sallé®), Jalapa (de Oca®), 
Playa Vicente (Boucard"), Merida in Yucatan 17 (Schott 1), Chable (Gaumer 1°); 
British Honpuras, Belize (0. S.°, Blancaneaua), Corosal (Roe). 
This is the Cardinal Grosbeak, described by Mr. Ridgway as C. virginianus, var. 
coccineus '*, but we wholly fail to distinguish between specimens from Jalapa and 
others from Washington ; and as Sumichrast speaks of C. virginianus as a winter visitor 
to the State of Vera Cruz ¥, the probability is that the birds of Eastern Mexico and the 
Eastern States are of one species. In Yucatan, however, and in British Honduras, both 
of which localities are included in the range of OC. v. var. coccineus, we notice that the 
grey edging of the dorsal feathers becomes evanescent, leaving this part of the plumage 
of a redder tint than is usual in C. virginianus. The difference is, however, of the 
slightest, not very constant, and unaccompanied by other characters. 
Cardinalis virginianus is a very familiar bird in the Eastern States, and has been 
known for at least two centuries, being mentioned by nearly every writer on North- 
American birds. It is a favourite cage-bird, and distinguished for its song, the female 
as well as the male having this accomplishment. Its habits, nest, and eggs are fully 
described by Brewer in the ‘ History of North-American Birds’ 13*, and a very copious 
list of references is to be found in Dr. Coues’s ‘ Birds of the North-West.’ 
* For the statement, “ A single specimen of this bird was obtained near Duehas, Guatemala, by Mr. Salvin,” 
we can find no authority. Salvin says® that he saw Cardinal Grosbeaks at Belize, but did not obtain speci- 
mens. This, so far as we know, is its extreme southern range. It was certainly never seen by us 
elsewhere, 
