108 CARDINALIS VIRG1NIANUS. 



The Fox-colored Sparrows deposit their eggs about the last week in June, and the 

 yonng accompany the adults in August, migrating with them in large, straggling flocks 

 later in the season. This species has been found in Florida but twice to my knowledge, 

 both times by Mr. Boardman. They are quite common in the Carolinas, however, where 

 they remain until about the first of March, when they return northward in company with 

 other Sparrows. 



GENUS XI. CARDINALIS. THE CARDINAL GROSBEAKS. 



GE\. Cn. Bill, thick, upper mandible slightly curved. Winys, a little shorter than the tail, which is considerably 

 rounded. Sternum, stout, with the coracoids much shorter than the top of the keel which is almost as Inyh as one half tlie 

 length of the coracoids. Head, crested. Size, larye. 



The males of all the species are bright in color, but the females are duller. They are not streaked below. No promi- 

 nent lines over the eye or white markings on the tail. 



CARDINALIS VIRGINIANUS. 



Cardinal Grosbeak. 

 Cardinalis Viryinianus Box., List, 1838. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Sr. Cn. Form, very robust. Size, large. Tongue, very fleshy, triangular in form but provided with the terminal, 

 hair-like fibers. Crest, pointed. 



COLOR. Adult male. Bright vermilion-red, duller on the back, wings, and tail. Inner webs of wing feathers, dark- 

 brown. Lores, line at base of bill, chin, and throat, black. Bill, coral-red. Feet, brown. 



Adult female. Wings and tail similar to those of the males, remaining upper portions are yellowish-brown. Beneath, 

 yellowish-rufous, lighter on the abdomen. There are traces of vermilion on the throat and upper breast. Under wing cov- 

 erts, vermilion and the crest is tinged with it. Bill and faet as in the male. The black markings of the head and throat 

 are considerably paler. 



Youny. Are duller. The males are overwashed on the back with olivaceous and the females show no traces of ver- 

 milion on the lower parts. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



This well marked species may be recognized at onee by the description as given. There is a general uniformity of col- 

 oration but specimens from Virginia are much paler than those from Florida. Distributed throughout the Eastern section 

 of the United States from the latitude of Virginia southward. Not migratory. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Average measurements of thirty-seven specimens from Florida. Length, 8'39; stretch, 1<V95; wing, 3'55; tail, 4'40; 

 bill, "87; tarsus, '90. Longest specimen, 9 - 00; greatest extent of wing, 11'75; longest wing, 3'85: tail, 4*30; bill, '95; tarsus, 

 72. Shortest specimen, 8'75; smallest extent of wing, 10'25; shortest wing, 3'30; tail, 3 - 50; bill, '80; tarsus, '75. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



Nests, placed in trees. They are rather compact structures, composed of weeds, leaves, and Spanish moss, lined with 

 fine grass. Dimensions; external diameter, 4'60, internal, 2'75. External depth, 2 - 00, internal, TOO. 



Eyys, three or four in number, elliptical in form, ashy-white in color, spotted, blotched, and dotted, irregularly with 

 reddish-brown and lilac. Dimensions from I'OO x '80 to T05 x '78. 



HABITS. 



The plantations of Florida are usually bordered with quite low shrubbery but it grows 

 very luxuriantly and is often filled with briers or other climbing plants, the whole forming 

 dense thickets which are exceedingly difficult to penetrate. As a natural result, all of these 

 tangled copses form fastnesses for many of the birds which feed in the adjacent grounds. 

 The first time I entered a field in the South a cloud of Sparrows of several species arose 



