6 FOOD HABITS OF THE GROSBEAKS. 



sally it is known as the redbird, and is often kept as a household pet. 

 Affection for the bird, however, is not confined to the South, for its 

 loud, ringing song, bright plumage, and ^dvacious manner make it a 

 favorite , wherever it lives. When winter's snows cover its favorite 

 feeding grounds the redbird becomes bolder and seeks its fare about 

 sheds and barns and even among the horses' feet. Spring return- 

 ing, its natural food supplies are once more available, and then the 

 cardinal mostly frequents hedges, fence rows, and brushy thickets. 

 The cardinal is one of the few birds which sings throughout the j'ear, 

 although, of course, its songs are rendered more frequently and in 

 greater perfection during the breeding season. 



The nest is loosely built and generally is placed in a bush or vine, 

 often in the densest tangles ; in it three or four speckled eggs are laid. 

 The first set of eggs usually is completed in May, but the second 

 clutch is sometimes postponed until late summer. The cardinal is 

 very sensitive to an}' interference in its domestic affairs, and un- 

 finished nests and even those containing full complements of eggs 

 are deserted upon slight provocation. Hence one who would have 

 cardinals for neighbors must see to it that the birds' privacy is un- 

 disturbed. The male redbird is a model parent, rushing to the de- 

 fense of the nest in every emergency, doing a gre^it share of the 

 feeding and otherwise caring for the young. The first birds of the 

 year usually begin to shift for themselves about midsummer. 



The nest of the redbird is often within a few feet of the ground, 

 and this circumstance leads to the destruction of many sets of eggs 

 and broods of young by snakes, cats, and prowling wild mammals. 

 Hence the bird needs protection, and when this is afforded it easily 

 maintains its numbers, 



ECONOMIC RELATIONS. 



As mentioned above, the cardinal has ever been a favorite cage 

 bird, and in some localities in the south gi'eat numbers have been 

 trapped and sold into captivity. In times past it has suffered 

 greatly also from the persecution of milliner}' collectors. Despite 

 legal enactments against the killing of birds for hat gear, even yet 

 the practice has by no means ceased, and among other useful birds 

 the cardinal still suffers to a greater or less degree. In the District 

 of Columbia cardinals were noted on hats as late as 1906, 



The extent of the former traffic in wild birds for cage purposes 

 was remarkable. " Thousands of mockingbirds, cardinals, indigo 

 birds, and other bright-plumaged species were formerly trapped for 

 sale in this country and abroad, and so assiduously did the bird trap- 

 pers ply their vocation that in some localities these species were al- 

 most exterminated," " 



"T. S. Palmer, Yearbook, Department of Agriculture, 1905, pp. 557-558. 



