The Cardinal {Cardiualis cardimdis) 

 By W. Leon Dawson 



Lcn^ih : 7' _> to 9 inches. 



Kaiii^e : luisteni I'nilcd Slates, imrlli to llu' lower MikUoii \'al1e\' and llie 

 Great Lakes, west to the plains. 



Food: The cardinal is a ves^^etarian. Se\ent\- per cent of its food consists 

 of berries, seeds, etc.. but it also eats many insects, heedes and vorms. 



IVobably four persons out of five, at least in many states, if asked to name 

 their favorite songster, would reply ])romptly the red-bird. I'or who is there to 

 the manor born whose heart does not fliood with ])leasant memories as he listens 

 to our poet Xaylor's worfls? 



"Along the dnst-uhite ri\er road 



The saucy Red-bird chir]>s and trills : 

 His liquid notes resound and rise 

 I'ntil they meet the cloudless skies 

 And echo o'er the di'Jtant hills." 



Xot merely for the sj^lendor of his plumage, but for the gentle boldness of his 

 comradeshi]) and the daily b.eartening of his stirring song, the cardinal is loved 

 of all who know him. 



.Some years ago the cardin.al ha<i good reason to comi)lain of our fondness, 

 l)Ut now that wise legislation has forbidden his imprisonment he sings unfettered 

 at many a door where he was formerly tmknown. Always al)un<Iant in the South 

 the species has of late increased ra])idl\- in the North as well ; and the time is not 

 far distant when our Canadian neighbors can no longer say of it, "Casual only in 

 southwestern C )ntario." 



W herever known the birds are resident or ne;irly so. Fn winter they may 

 gather in loose companies to enjoy the shelter of some favorite copse or lowland 

 thorn-brake. At such a time it is a rare treat for two or three observers to "drive" 

 the birds from cover. They will sli]) along uimoticed in unsttspected numbers 

 until the last bush is reached ; whence they will break for distant cover in twos 

 and threes not without much remonstrance of sharp chips, and manifest rekictance 

 to draw the gaze of a world in w^iite. Thus ! ha\e seen them, a whole college 

 of cardinals, rudely disturbed in secret session, but lia\e always sought and 

 found prompt shrift. 



lioth males and females sing, tb.e latter ])erhai)s with less force and fre(|uency. 

 A warm day in winter is welcomed as an excuse for song, but the male is most 

 indefatigable during the nesting season, b'earless now he seeks some outlying 

 branch or mounts the tip of the tallest tree and challenges attention. The whistled 

 notes of the Red-bird, assertive, interrogatory, staccato and accelerando, are too 

 well known to require characterization. The following syllabizations may serve 

 to recall a few of the leading form> : 



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