64 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN. 



ence scores of times when not a glimpse of him can be had in 

 the dense undergrowth. A softer "t'whee" in answer to his 

 stentorian warnings indicates that his lady is not far away 

 and is aware of the impending danger. His real song, a bell- 

 like note of great strength, is heard only in the breeding sea- 

 son, when, perched on some eminence, usually less than twenty 

 feet above ground, but sometimes on the uppermost branch 

 of a high tree, he is extremely liberal with it for hours at a 

 time. The female, which has the black replaced by brown, 

 is one of the most secretive birds and therefore comparatively 

 seldom seen; but both, male and female, are easily identified, 

 even when trying to avoid a close acquaintance, by the 

 broadly white-edged and white-tipped black tail, spread wide 

 open in their singularly jerky flight. When busily engaged 

 in feeding, which is almost always done on the ground, the 

 loud rustling of dry leaves often announces their presence, 

 and by careful watching we see them jumping up and tossing 

 with both feet the dry leaves backward in order to get at the 

 different forms of insects in hiding underneath. Only one 

 pair located in the Garden this year, but with the increase of 

 shrubbery will come an increase in the number of this desir- 

 able songster. 



CARDINAL. Cardinolis cardinalis. 



Of the whole bird population of the Garden there are only 

 four species which might be called permanent residents, i. e. 

 of which the same individuals inhabit the grounds all the year 

 round, namely the Bob-white, FUcker, Mocking-bird and the 

 Redbird or Cardinal. Birds of such bright plumage as the 

 Redbird are usually associated with tropical and subtropical 

 chmates, and it is therefore a great surprise to many people 

 to see the vermilioned bird contrasting with the snows of our 

 wintry landscape. It is his robust constitution and his fac- 

 ulty to put up with any kind of food, vegetable and animal, 

 which allow him to endure our low temperatures. His power- 

 ful bill can crush the hardest seeds and his skill in scratching 

 the floor of his home supplies him with insect food at a time 

 of the year when we might suppose none could be had. He cer- 

 tainly does not seem to suffer from hunger even in midwinter, 



