2 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 2 37 i^akt i 



they have come to be looked upon as permanent residents, a very delightful 

 addition indeed to our fauna. During the winter of 1916-1917, J. C. Middleton 

 had eight Cardinals feeding at his home on The Ridgeway, London, as well as a 

 variety of other birds. Thirty-one were reported in our Christmas Census for 

 1929. They often nest within the city in lilac bushes, or other shrubbery, several 

 nests having been collected after the birds had finished with them. * * * 



O. E. Dovitt (1944b) reports: "A marked incursion of Cardinals 

 occurred throughout Southern Ontario during the fall and winter of 



1938-39." 



Evidently the species is still extending its range and increasing in 

 abundance everywhere east of the Plains and even as far west as 

 North Dakota. 



In South Dakota, Herbert Krause (1956) points out, the species 

 over a 52-year period has followed up the streams east of the Missouri 

 River and become estabUshed as a breeding bird, wintering in "appre- 

 ciable numbers." 



Norman A. Wood (1951) conunents on the spread and expansion of 

 breeding status throughout Michigan begmning in 1904. 



Throughout the southern portion of its range, the cardinal is uni- 

 versally abimdant, familiar, and generally distributed in the vines 

 and shrubbery about houses and the dense hedges of Cherokee roses, 

 in the streamside thickets and the more open woodlands intermingled 

 with dense bushes, and in thickets overgrown with climbing vuies. 

 It avoids the more open places and the forest treetops, but, in the 

 cities and villages, it is omnipresent, semidomesticated, and generally 

 beloved for its beauty and song. In Mississippi, according to Charles 

 R. Stockard (1905), it also nests in orchards and in "the thickest 

 canebrakes." 



Where it has become established farther north, it prefers similar 

 haunts wherever it can find them, even coming into the towms and 

 cities and nesting in lilac bushes near houses and in other shrubbery 

 in parks and gardens. 



Courtship. — Evidences of affection between mated pairs and com-t- 

 ship to secure new mates may be observed before the end of winter. 

 The male shows more tolerance toward the female on the feeding 

 shelf, allows her to feed with him, and often puts food into her beak. 

 Singing by both sexes becomes more frequent and seems to play an 

 important part in the courtship performance. 



Shaver and Roberts (1933) write: "The singing of the male be- 

 came more frequent in February and parts of songs could be heard 

 at almost any hour of the day. It was about the middle of February 

 before the female started to sing. From this time on to nesting time, 

 the male and female often appeared to sing against each other, i.e., 

 the female would sing a song and then stop while the male repeated 

 the same song. Then he would wait for her to sing again. At these 



