The Birds' Calendar 



vailing tone of the landscape. The arctic birds 

 are largely white, those of the tropics brilliant 

 hued, and in our own clime the richly tinted 

 species appear amid the bloom and verdure of 

 spring and summer ; while the snow and the 

 sombre tints of the winter landscape are matched 

 by the whiteness of the sea-gulls, the mingled 

 black and white of snow-bird, chickadee, and 

 downy woodpecker, the brown and white of the 

 snow-bunting, and the browns of the flicker, 

 goldfinch, and creeper. Yet the jewel of con- 

 sistency is not tarnished but enhanced by 

 nature's occasional departure from the severity 

 of her own laws, showing them to be curvili- 

 near rather than angular. 



A delightful surprise it is, therefore, to find 

 in the Park, at this season, a flock of cardinal 

 grosbeaks, also called red-bird and Virginia 

 nightingale, of graceful form, rich in color, 

 and of rather lordly air with their prominent 

 crests, apparently living a comfortable life in a 

 climate that would seem too severe for their 

 more tropical natures. They are a little small- 

 er than the robin, the male a bright vermil- 

 ion, black about the bill, while the bill itself, 

 which is large and prominent, is bright coral 

 red. A stuffed specimen gives no idea of its 



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