FINCHES 



63 



CARDINAL 

 Cardinalis cardinalis cardinalis (LiinurHs) 



Other Names. — Cardinal Groslieak ; Redbird ; 

 Crested Redliird ; Virginia Redbird; Virginia Nightin- 

 gale; Virginia Cardinal; Kentucky Cardinal; Cardinal 

 Bird. 



General Description. — Length, 8^4 inches. Male, 

 red; female, partly red, giving an appearance of being 

 faded. Bill, stout; wings, short and rounded; tail, 

 longer than wing, slightly rounded; head with con- 

 spicuous crest. 



Color. — Adult M.\le: Front portion of forehead, 

 front part of cheek region, chin, and throat, black, 

 forming a conspicuous cap entirely surrounding the bill ; 

 rest of head, vermilion-red, duller on crown { includ- 

 ing crest) ; under parts, pure vermilion-red becoming 

 slightly paler posteriorly, the flanks slightly tinged with 

 grayish ; hindneck, back, shoulders, rutnp, and upper 

 tail-coverts, dull vermilion-red ; wings and tail, dull 

 red; bill, red-orange; iris, deep brown. Adult Female: 

 Wings and tail, much as in the male, but the red duller ; 

 red of head and body replaced above by plain grayish 

 olive or buffy grayish, the crest partly dull red, below 



by pale fulvous or buffy (nearly white on abdomen), 

 the chest often tinged or mixed with red; head, dull 

 grayish, sometimes nearly white on throat. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: Located in thickets of 

 brambles or grapevines or low saplings ; a carelessly 

 constructed, loosely put together afi^air of small twigs, 

 strips of bark, weed stems, grass, lined with fine root- 

 lets, and horse-hair. Eggs: 2 to 4, white, bluish, or 

 greenish white marked with shades of chestnut, purple, 

 and brown, usually scattered over entire surface. 



Distribution. — Eastern United States ; north, regu- 

 larly and breeding to southeastern New York, lower 

 districts of eastern Pennsylvania, western Pennsyl- 

 vania, northeastern Ohio, northern Indiana, southern 

 Iowa, etc., casually or irregularly to Connecticut, Mas- 

 sachusetts, Maine, Nova Scotia, southern Ontario, 

 southern Michigan, southern Wisconsin, and Minne- 

 sota; west to edge of Great Plains, casually to eastern 

 Colorado ; south to Georgia, Alabama, and upland 

 region of Gulf States; Bermudas (introduced and 

 naturalized). 



The flash of red that comes to view and dis- 

 appears in otlier trees is generally the Cardinal. 

 There are other red birds, btit none that frequent 

 the stately Southern elms and other large 

 roadside trees as docs this most attractive 

 S])arro\v. 



All through the Southern plantation country 

 this is the bird that typifies everything that is 

 elegant and chivalric not only to the colored cot- 

 ton pickers and plantation laborers, but to the 

 country gentlemen. Novels have been written in 

 which the Virginia Cardinal and the Kentuckv 

 Cardinal and the Carolina Cardinal have given 

 a tone of aristocratic elegance to the plots. The 

 bird is indeed a fine specimen of bird character, 

 whether found on a .Southern plantation, or at 

 its northeastern limit in Central Park, New York 

 city, or at its western limit in the dingv chaparral 

 of southern Arizona. 



The bird is ever cheerful and active and indus- 

 trious. The young are cared for eagerly bv the 

 male while the female is sitting on a second lav- 

 ing of eggs. Nothing daunts the male in his 

 care of the young that he leads out upon the 

 lawns and berry fields. The search for food, the 

 scent of danger, and the warnings given to 

 the heedless yottng are common observations 

 made by people who are attracted to them. 



The attention the male gives his mate is very 

 noticeable. He is never fearful to fiv about 

 Vol.. III. —6 



looking after the nest or leading her to some 

 favored food or singing to her from far up in 

 the tallest tree while she is bu.sy at her toilet 

 down by the brook in the vallev. And fre- 

 quently she will answer in a lower note that 



A flash of red, coming to view one moment, and disappearing 



the next 



brings from him a quick response. There is a 

 remarkable charm in the Cardinal that brings 

 words of enthusiasm from all who have lived in 



