io Birds of Buzzard's Roost 



seeds; chin front and lores black; head is ornamented with a 

 high, pointed crest which can be erected or flattened at the 

 pleasure of the bird ; iris of eye dark hazel ; general color of the 

 body a cardinal or brilliant red, darkest on the back, rump and 

 tail ; tail extends about three inches beyond the wings, and is 

 nearly even at the end; legs and feet a light clay color. The 

 adult female is not so large as the male. Her color above is 

 light olive with a yellowish tinge on the head, and brownish 

 yellow on the sides; the top of the crest, the wings and tail 

 are nearly as red as those of the male ; the chin, front and lores 

 are light ash ; breast and lower parts a reddish drab ; bill, eyes 

 and legs like those of the male ; crest not so long. 



There is a beautiful legend as to how the different colors 

 of these birds were acquired. Two Indian warriors hated each 

 other. The one had a daughter, Gonda; the other a son, To- 

 wai. The children were forbidden to speak, but loving each 

 other, they met in the forest and stayed so long that their irate 

 parents missed them and went in search of them. The winds, 

 the trees, the fireflies, the fire and the leaves rescued them and 

 suddenly they were changed into birds. They chose to become 

 sparrows and hence the cardinal is of the sparrow or finch 

 family. There was great confusion and the birds of the forest 

 bade them fly from the flames of the fire that had been kindled 

 by the fireflies in the dead leaves to effect the change. The 

 birds said to them, "You have wings, do not look at the earth, 

 lest you grieve to leave it." Gonda was obedient and flew 

 above the flame and was only tinged with it. But Towai loath- 

 ing to leave the earth, lingered so long that his feathers be- 

 came red from the flames, and the soot blackened his face. 

 Since then these birds have been devoted to each other and it 

 is said that when they once mate, it is for life. 



The cardinal is known by various names, most of which 

 have been suggested by different features and characteristics 

 of the bird. For instance, it is called the Virginia Nightengale 

 because of the fact that it was first found in large numbers in 

 Virginia and its beautiful song was suggestive of that of the 

 nightengale of Europe, the redbird, the crested redbird, and 

 the cardinal grosbeak because of its color and the great size 

 of its beak. In his Hoosier Bards, my friend, Benjamin S. 



