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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