CARDINAL BIRD 



1183 



CARDS 



appearance. The males are bright vermilion 

 above, paler beneath, with tints of gray on 

 the back, and black forehead and throat. The- 

 females are modestly attired in olive-gray and 

 buff. 



The cardinals are found chiefly in Southeast- 

 ern Canada and in the Eastern United' States 

 from New York to Florida, and are also com- 

 mon in Mexico and the Bermuda Islands. The 



CARDINAL BIRDS 



migratory birds of the cooler sections travel 

 southward in flocks on the approach of winter, 

 but a few stragglers usually linger in the 

 swamps of Pennsylvania nearly all winter. Oc- 

 casionally a cardinal is seen as far north as 

 Massachusetts; there are a few in the province 

 of Ontario. South of the Ohio River these 

 birds are permanent residents of the localities 

 where they are found. They usually nest in 

 a thicket of brambles or in a low tree, their 

 little home being loosely made of twigs, grass, 

 weed-stems, etc., and lined with grass or roots. 

 There are three to five dull white or bluish 

 eggs, with spots of reddish-brown and lilac, 

 and two broods are usually raised each season. 

 They feed on insects, worms and the seeds of 

 small fruits, and are useful destroyers of insect 

 pests. The male bird never neglects his mate 

 during the breeding season, but keeps her and 

 the young well supplied with food. 



The cardinal is one of the sweetest songsters 

 of America, its songs reminding one of the 

 nightingale's music, though lacking the haunt- 

 ing melancholy of the latter's notes. Easily 

 tamed, it is popular as a cage bird, and large 

 numbers are shipped to Europe under the name 

 of Virginia nightingale. 



CARDINAL FLOWER, or INDIAN PINK, 

 a large, intensely-red and very showy flower. 

 It is a native of America, growing to a height of 

 two or three feet 

 in low, swampy 

 places, or on 

 muddy banks of 

 streams. It is a 

 straight - growing, 

 attractive flower, 

 worthy of culti- 

 vation in moist 

 borders. In Eng- 

 land it is much 

 prized and culti- 

 vated. A blue- 

 flowered species 

 is called blue car- 

 dinal flower. All 

 species are mem- 

 bers of the lobelia 

 family. See LO- 

 BELIA. 



CARDS, PLAT- 

 ING, oblong pieces 

 of cardboard 

 bearing certain 

 spots and figures 

 which are used in 

 playing games of 

 chance or skill. 

 They are consid- 

 ered by some to be an innocent recreation of 

 the fireside and by others the most widespread 

 gambling device the world has ever seen. 



The set of cards commonly used is known 

 as a deck, or pack, and consists of fifty-two 

 cards containing four suits spades and clubs, 

 which are printed in black, and diamonds and 

 hearts, printed in red. A suit is composed of 

 thirteen cards consisting of king, queen, knave 

 (or jack), known as face cards, and ten spot- 

 cards, sometimes called pip-cards, ranging in 

 number of spots from one, or the ace, to ten. 

 The natural rank in the suit sometimes places 

 the king highest, and so on down, the ace being 

 the lowest; but in most games this rank is 

 changed, the ace being the highest, the king 

 second, etc. A great variety of games may be 

 played with cards. There are round games, as 

 in hearts or poker, in which any number of 

 persons may join; four persons may play 

 euchre, whist, bridge, etc.; two may play 

 pinochle, cribbage or bezique, and one person 

 may find diversion in the game of solitaire. 

 Rules for many games appear in these volumes. 



CARDINAL FLOWER 



