THE CARDINAL. 



97 



unfettered at many a door where he was formerly unknown. Always abun- 

 dant in the south the species has of late increased rapidly 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 Ontario." 



Wherever known the birds are resident or nearly so. In winter they may 

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

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

 to "drive" the birds from cover. They will slip along unnoticed in unsus- 

 pected numbers until the last bush is readied ; whence they will break for 

 distant cover in twos and threes not without much remonstrance of sharp 

 chips, and manifest reluctance to draw the gaze of a world in white. Thus 

 I have seen them, a whole college of Cardinals, rudely disturbed in secret 

 session, but have always sought and found prompt shrift. 



Both males and females sing, the latter perhaps with less force and 

 frequency. A warm day in winter is welcomed as an excuse for song, but 

 the male is most indefatigable during the nesting season. Fearless now he 

 seeks some outlying branch or mounts the tip of the tallest tree and chal- 

 lenges attention. The whistled notes of the Redbird, assertive, interrogatory, 

 staccato and accelerando, are too well known to require characterization. The 

 following syllabizations may serve to recall a few of the leading forms: 



i. Che-pcw, che-pew, zve-oo, we-oo, we-oo. 



2. Whe-tew, whe-tezv, whe-oo, whe-oo. 



3. We-oo, zve-oo, we-oo, we-oo, -wc-oo. 



4. Chitikew, chitikew, he-weet, he-weet. 



5. Tshew, tshew, tshew, tshew, tshezv. 



6. Who-yf who-yf who-yf who-yf 



7. Bird'-ie, bird'-ie, bird'-ie, tshew, tshezv, tshew. 



8. Bird'-ie, bird'-ie, bird'-ie, bird'-ie. 



By the merest good luck I found out one day how the Cardinal got his 

 red beak. Secreting myself in a log pile I imitated the notes of the Screech 

 Owl — a favorite method of securing a muster of the local bird population. 

 True to life a Cardinal came charging up in great haste. Between his man- 

 dibles was a half-eaten wahoo berry from which the rich red juice was flow- 

 ing, staining the bird's bill completely and running down upon his breast. 

 The suggestion might lead further, but I do not press it. 



The Cardinal is first of all granivorous; but this term must be under- 

 stood to cover the consumption of weed-seeds of many sorts, including some 

 hard-coated specimens which few" other birds are able to crack open. Insects 

 are also eaten freely, and berries "in season." If encouraged the bird will 

 glean about our premises in winter, haunting the grape-trellis and garden, 

 and roosting, it may be, in the arbor vitae. The young are fed for the first 



