CARDINAL GROSBEAK, OR RED-BIRD. 521 



lagoon, which continued, in lengthened file, to fly over 

 my head at a considerable height for more than 20 min- 

 utes together. The beautiful procession, illumined by 

 the last rays of the setting sun, was incomparably 

 splendid as the shifting shadowy light at quick intervals 

 flashed upon their brilliant livery. They had been ob- 

 served to pass in this manner to their roost for a 

 considerable time, and, at day-break, they were seen 

 again to proceed and disperse for subsistence. How 

 long this timid and gregarious habit continues, I cannot 

 pretend to say ; but by the first week in February, the 

 song of the Red Bird was almost daily heard. As the 

 season advances, roving pairs, living, as it were, only 

 with and for each other, flit from place to place ; and fol- 

 lowing also their favorite insect or vegetable fare, many 

 proceed back to the same cool region in which they were 

 bred, and from which they were reluctantly driven ; 

 while others, impelled by interest, caprice, and adven- 

 ture, seek to establish new families in the most remote 

 limits of their migration. Some of these more restless 

 wanderers occasionally, though rarely, favor this part of 

 New England with a visit. After listening with so much 

 delight to the lively fife of the splendid Cardinal, as I 

 travelled alone through the deep and wild solitudes which 

 prevail over the Southern States, and bid, as I thought, 

 perhaps an eternal adieu to the sweet voice of my charm- 

 ing companions, what was my surprise and pleasure, on the 

 7th of May, to hear, for the first time in this State, and 

 in the Botanic Garden, above an hour together, the live- 

 ly and loud song of this exquisite vocalist, whose voice 

 rose above every rival of the feathered race, and rung al- 

 most in echoes through the blooming grove in which he 

 had chosen his retreat. In the Southern States, where 

 they every where breed, they become familiarly attached 

 44* 



