FIUNGILLID^E THE FINCHES. 295 



Cardinalis cardinalis (Linn.) 



CARDINAL. 



Popular synonyms. Redbird; Crested Redbird; Top-knot Redbird; Cardinal Grosbeak; 



Cardinal Redbird; Corn-cracker: Virginian Redbird; Virginia Nightingale. 

 Loxia cardinalis LINN. S. N. ed. 10, i, 1758, 172; ed. 12, i, 1766, 300. WILS. Am. Oru. ii.1810, 



38, pi. 6, figs. 1,2. 



Fringilla cardinalis BP. 1828. NUTT. Man. i, 1832, 519. AUD. Orn.Biog.ii, 1834,336, pi. 159. 

 Pitylus cardinalis AUD. Synop. 1839,131; B. Am. iii, 1841, 198, pi. 203. 

 Cardinalis virginianus BP. List. 1838, 35. BATED, B. N. Am. 1858,509; Cat. N. Am. B. 1859. 



No. 390. COUES, Key, 1872,151; Check List. 1874, No. 203; 2d ed. 1882. No. 299; B. N. 



W. 1874,172. -B. B. & R, Hist, N. Am. B. ii, 1874, 100, pl.30.flgs. 6,7. RIDGW. Norn. N. 



Am. B. 1881, No. 242. 



H AB. Eastern United States, chiefly south of 40, but occasionally in New York, Con- 

 necticut, Massachusetts, etc. ; west to Nebraska, Kansas, Indian Territory, and Texas. 

 Resident wherever found. 



SP. CHAK. Adult male. Uniform vermilion-red, pure beneath, darker and more 

 brownish above. Lores, anterior portion of malar region, chin, and throat, black, this 

 color meeting across forehead at base of culmen. Bill bright vermilion; iris brown; 

 feet horn-color. Adult female. Bill, eyes, and feet as in the male. Red of head and 

 body replaced by olive-gray above, and grayish buff or pale fulvous below, the crest, 

 sometimes also the breast, tinged with red. Black of throat, etc., replaced by grayish. 

 Young. Bill dusky. Plumage much as in the adult female, but browner. 



Male. Total length, 8.75-9.25 inches; extent, 11.10-12.25; wing, 3.75-4.05; tail. 4.10-4.65; 

 culmen, .75; depth of bill at base, .58-. 65. 



Female. Total length, 8.25-8. 45; extent, 11.25-11.50; wing, 3. 40-3.80; tail, 3.85-4.40. 



The Cardinal Grosbeak is truly one of the glories of our bird- 

 fauna, being unapproachable in the combination of proud bearing 

 and gaudy coloring, and unexcelled in certain qualities of song. 

 Many writers have pronounced his song monotonous, but these 

 have certainly not heard him at his best. The verdict is undoubt- 

 edly a just one when applied to many that we have heard; but 

 there is probably more individual variation in quality of song in 

 this bird than in any other. We have listened with peculiar pleas- 

 ure to some whose vocal performance was characterized by a clear- 

 ness and mellow richness of tone, a tender and passionate expres- 

 sion, and persistent vigor, that together were wholly unique. Even 

 the females are good singers, though, as a rule, inferior to the 

 males, and it is extremely probable that the impressions which 

 some writers have received were derived from the songs of birds of 

 this sex. 



In the southern portion of the State, few birds are more abund- 

 ant, it being a common thing in some localities to hear several 

 males singing in earnest rivalry ; and the writer has at one time 



