152 BIRDS OF NEW ENGLAND AND EASTERN NEW YORK 



reddish; upper parts brownish ; throat gray; rest of under parts 

 dull buffy, sometimes showing a trace of red on the breast; bill 

 light-colored. Im. — Similar to 9, but bill blackish. 



Nest, in bushes or vines, of twigs, bark, and rootlets. Eggs, 

 white or bluish-white, spotted with brown or lavender. 



The Cardinal is a permanent resident of northern New 

 Jersey, Staten Island, and the lower Hudson Valley, as far 

 north as Hastings ; it . is rare on Long Island, but is not 

 uncommon in Central Park ; in New England it occurs only 

 as an accidental visitor. It frequents thickets, especially 

 along streams, mounting tall trees to utter its loud, pure 

 whistle, but seeking its food in the shrubbery, or on the 

 ground. In winter it frequents warm hollows on sheltered 

 hillsides. 



Its notes are too numerous to transcribe, but are nearly all 

 loud and clear ; the same note is generally repeated with 

 energy and rapidly. Some common forms of the song re- 

 semble the syllables whoit, ichoit, whoit, etc., ku, ku, kit, 

 etc. ; one form ends in a series of ee's " so long continued 

 that it apparently ends only when the singer becomes out 

 of breath." The female also has sweet whistled notes, and 

 both sexes utter as an alarm-note a sharp tsip, slight in pro- 

 portion to the size of the bird. 



There is no other bird in New York or New England 

 with which the male Cardinal can be confused ; the Tan- 

 ager has black wings and tail, and no crest. The female 

 shows a reddish tinge in her crest, wings, and tail, and, 

 like the male, has a trick of nervously jerking her tail 

 upward. 



Towhee ; Chewixk. Pipilo erythrophthalmus 



8.35 



Ad. $ . — Head, throat, breast, back, wings, and tail black; the 

 wing-feathers margined with white; the outer tail-feathers with 

 large white spots; belly white; flanks chestnut. Ad. 9- — The 

 black of the male replaced by a light reddish-brown • otherwise 



