OUT OF PLACE ON THE GROUND. 107 



in plumage, and had been a regular caller since 

 the morning of my arrival. During the black- 

 bird supremacy over the corn supply he had 

 been hardly more than a spectator, coming to 

 the trunk of the elm and surveying the assem- 

 bly of blue jays, doves, blackbirds, and spar- 

 rows with interest, as one looks down upon a 

 herd with whom he has nothing in common. 

 But when those birds departed, and the visitors 

 were of a different character, mostly cardinals, 

 with an occasional blue jay, he at once took the 

 place he felt belonged to him that of dictator. 

 The Virginia cardinal, a genuine F. F. V., 

 and a regular attendant at my corn breakfast, 

 was a subject of special study with me ; indeed, 

 it was largely on his account that I had set up 

 my tent in that part of the world. I had all 

 my life known him as a tenant of cages, and it 

 struck me at first as very odd to see him flying 

 about freely, like other wild birds. No one, 

 it seemed to me, ever looked so out of place 

 as this fellow of elegant manners, aristocratic 

 crest, and brilliant dress, hopping about on the 

 ground with his exaggerated little hops, tail 

 held stiffly up out of harm's way, and uttering 

 sharp " tsips." One could not help the feeling 

 that he was altogether too fine for this common 

 work-a-day existence ; that he was intended for 

 show ; and that a gilded cage was his proper 



