The BirJs' Calendar 



In the strong contr;ist of its plumage to the 

 snow and the bare branches, the cardinal seems 

 like a breath of warm air, as it floats hither and 

 thither in the wintry landscape. Yet one soon 

 learns to look upon it as an admirable rather 

 than a lovable bird — ornamental, like a piece of 

 bric-d brae with which one comes into no vital 

 touch — cold and unemotional as its December 

 surroundings, and if not distinctly unfriendly 

 to its humbler fellows, yet plainly showing its 

 haughty instincts. It would seem a great con- 

 descension for it to step upon the ground ; and 

 as for running about on the grass, like the robin 

 and sparrow, such a thing would be scandalously 

 disreputable. There are many other birds that 

 avoid the ground jiist as much as the cardinal. 

 It is not the height at which a bird lives in the 

 world that is the point in question, but its aris- 

 tocratic or democratic instinct. 



The cardinal's song is especially disappoint- 

 ing, for there are such possibilities in the full, 

 rich tone that do not begin to be realized. 

 Commencing with a clear and magnificent wliis- 

 tle, several times repeated, like a preliminary 

 flourish, you are on the qui vive for a glorious 

 j:>erformance — and there he stops ! Either the 

 mind or the heart (perhaps both) is lacking to 



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