OF NEW ENGLAND. 235 



(o). About 84- inches long; crested. $, black about the 

 bill, but otherwise of a brilliant vermilion, which is dull upon 

 the back. ? , dull brown above, much paler beneath, with 

 vermilion on the crest, and traces of it elsewhere. 



(&). The nest seems to resemble strongly that of the Rose- 

 breasted Grosbeak, though more substantial. The eggs aver- 

 age 1-05X*80 of an inch, and are white, evenly spotted with 

 (dull) brown and faint lilac. 



(c). The gorgeous Cardinal Grosbeaks seem to have oc- 

 curred occasionally in Massachusetts as wanderers from the 

 South, and not merely as escaped cage-birds. They are ha- 

 bituall}^ summer-residents for the most part in the Southern 

 States, where they inhabit shrubber}', groves, thickets, and like 

 places. They feed principally upon various seeds and grain, 

 and are probably somewhat injurious on this account. Not 

 only are the males extremely brilliant, and very conspicuous in 

 their haunts, but both sexes sing finely. 



(cZ). "They are in song" says Wilson "from March to 

 September, beginning at the first appearance of dawn, and 

 repeating a favorite stanza, or passage, twenty or thirty times 

 successively ; sometimes with little intermission for a whole 

 morning together ; which, like a good story too often repeated, 

 becomes at length tiresome and insipid. But the sprightly fig- 

 ure, and gaudy plumage of the Red-bird, his vivacity, strength 

 of voice, and actual variety of note, and the little expense 

 ■with which he is kept, will always make him a favorite." 



It is said that a stuflTed specimen can never convey an ade- 

 quate idea of the Cardinal Grosbeak's beauty, as the intensity 

 of his color disappears very soon after death. 



XXIV. PASSER 



(A) DOMESTicus.'''^ House Sjyarrow. English Sparroio. 

 (An imported bird, common in many of our cities and towns, 

 but not yet to be found in the country, with a few exceptions.) 

 (a). About six inches long. Nostrils covered. $. Above, 



'5 This species apparently belongs to the genus Pyrgita (XXV). 



