FRINOILLID^. 



and tinged with olive brown upon the belly ; quill 

 and tail feathers black, the two exterior of the latter 

 having a large oval black spot ; lesser secondary fea- 

 thers pure white. 



This bird appears to have an extensive range over 

 the more northern and north-western parts of Ame- 

 rica. By day they are described " to retire into deep 

 swamps, which are covered with a thick growth of 

 various trees of the coniferous order, and only leave 

 them in small parties at the approach of night. Their 

 note is strange and peculiar, and it is only in twilight 

 that they are heard crying in a singular strain. This 

 mournful sound, uttered at such an unusual hour, 

 strikes the traveller's ear, but the bird itself is seldom 

 seen ; though, probably, from its unacquaintance with 

 man, it is so remarkably tame and fearless, as almost 

 to suffer itself to be caught with the hand * ". The 

 sexes are very much alike. 



CARDINALS (Guiracce}. The other American birds 

 allied to the grosbeaks pertain to a separate division, 

 which is peculiar to the new world, and intermediate 

 between Coccothraustes and the bullfinches. In these, 

 the bill is higher than broad, the upper mandible 

 being larger than the lower, and covering its margins 

 entirely, as in the bullfinches ; its form is not so 

 completely angular, but is very slightly curved. Red 

 is the predominating colour of the plumage, which 

 in its texture resembles more that of the true bull- 

 finches ; and the wings are generally short, and the 

 tail rather long than otherwise. The type of this 

 division is the 



RED CARDINAL (G. Cardinalii), Cardinal Gros- 

 beak, or Virginian Nightingale, as it is sometimes 

 called ; a bird, of which caged specimens are often 

 imported into this country, and sold at a high price. 

 This species is eight inches in total length, and 

 eleven in extent of wing ; all the upper parts dull 

 dusky red, the crest {which is long, pointed, and 

 credible), and the whole under parts, bright vermi- 

 lion ; front, cere, and throat, black ; tail extending 

 three inches beyond the points of the wings ; bill 

 thick and powerful, and or a bright coral hue ; legs 

 and feet pale hazel. The female has the crest 

 shorter, and raises it less frequently, and is also of 

 smaller size than the male ; all the upper parts are 

 brownish olive, the tail, wings, and tip of the crest 

 excepted, which are nearly as red as in the male ; 

 breast and lower parts reddish drab. 



" The beautiful song of this species," observes 

 Bechstein, " is so like that of the nightingale, that 

 the name of Virginia Nightingale has been given to 

 it ; but its voice is so strong, that it pierces the ear. 

 It sings through the whole year, except at the time 

 of moulting." They have only, however, a few of 

 the more powerful and shaking, or thrilling notes, of 

 that bird, at least, to judge by those we have heard 

 singing in cages. Wilson says, " to this name, as 

 Dr. Latham observes, they are fully entitled, from 

 the clearness and variety of their notes, which, both 

 in a wild and domestic state, are very various and 

 musical : many of them resemble the high notes of a 

 fife, and are nearly as loud. They are in song from 

 March to September, beginning at the first appear- 

 ance of dawn, and repeating a favourite stanza or 

 passage twenty or thirty times successively ; some- 

 times, with little intermission, for a whole morning 

 together, which, like a good story too often repeated, 



* C. L. Bonaparte. 



becomes at length tiresome and insipid. But the 

 sprightly figure and gaudy plumage of the red bird," 

 (as he is commonly called in the United States), 

 " his vivacity, strength of voice, and actual variety of 

 note, and the little expense with which he is kept, 

 will always make him a favourite. 



" This species, like the mocking-bird, is more nu- 

 merous to the east of the great range of the Alle- 

 ghany Mountains, and inhabits from New England to 

 Carthagena. Michaux the younger, son to the cele- 

 brated botanist, informed me, that he found this bird 

 numerous at the Bermudas. In Pennsylvania and 

 the northern states, it is rather a scarce species ; but 

 through the whole lower parts of the southern states, 

 in the neighbourhood of settlements, I found them 

 much more numerous ; their clear and lively notes, 

 in the months of January and February, being, at 

 that time, almost the only music of the season. 

 Along the road sides and fences I found them hover- 

 ing in half dozens together, associated with snow 

 birds, and various kinds of sparrows. In the northern 

 states they are migratory ; but in the lower parts of 

 Pennsylvania they reside during the whole year, fre- 

 quenting the borders of creeks and rivulets, covered 

 with holly, laurel, and other evergreens. They love 

 also to reside in the vicinity of fields of Indian corn, 

 a grain that constitutes their chief and favourite food. 

 The seeds of apples, cherries, and of many other 

 sorts of fruit, are also eaten by them : and they are 

 accused of destroying bees. 



" In the months of March and April, the males 

 have many violent engagements for their favourite 

 females. Early in May, in Pennsylvania, they begin 

 to prepare their nest, which is often fixed in a holly, 

 cedar, or laurel bush. Outwardly, it is constructed 

 of small twigs, tops of dry weeds, and slips of vine 

 bark, and lined with stalks of fine grass. The female 

 lays four eggs, thickly marked all over with touches 

 of brownish olive, on a dull white ground ; and they 

 usually raise two broods in a season. 



" The opinion which so generally prevails in Eng- 

 land, that the music of the groves and woods of 

 America is far superior to that of Europe, I, who 

 have a thousand times listened to both, cannot but 

 admit to be correct. We cannot with fairness draw 

 a comparison between the depth of the forests in 

 America, and the cultivated fields of England ; be- 

 cause it is a well known fact, that singing birds sel- 

 dom frequent the former in any country. But let the 

 latter places be compared with the like situations in 

 the United States, and the superiority of gong, I am 

 fully persuaded, would justly belong to the western 

 continent. The few of our song-birds that have 

 visited England, extort admiration from the best 

 judges. ' The notes of the cardinal grosbeak,' says 

 Latham, ' are almost equal to those of the nightin- 

 gale. Yet these notes, clear and excellent as they are, 

 are far inferior to those of the wood thrush, or even 

 to those of the brown thrush, or thrasher (Orphciis 

 rufus)? Our inimitable mocking bird is also acknow- 

 ledged by themselves, to be fully equal to the song of 

 the nightingale, in its whole compass. Yet these are 

 not one-tenth of the number of our singing birds. 

 Could these people be transported to the borders of 

 our woods and settlements in the month of May, 

 about half an hour before sunrise, such a ravishing 

 concert would greet their ear as they have no con- 

 ception of." 



Europeans are now perfectly willing to concede 



