PASSERES — FRINGILLIDjE — PITYLUS. 
171 
GENUS PITYLUS. Cuvier. 
Bill short, very robust, much higher than broad, tapering to a point, arched above, with a 
salient angle at the middle of the edge of the upper mandible. Nostrils covered with the 
frontlet-feathers ; bristles at the base. Feathers of the head elongate and erectile. Tail 
long and rounded. 
THE CARDINAL GROSBEAK. 
PiTYLUS CARDINALIS. 
% « , 
PLATE LXII. FIG. 143 (Male, winter dress). 
(STATE COLLECTION.) 
Loxia cardinalis. Linnaius, Syst. Nat. p. 300. Pennant, Arct. Zool. Vol. 2, p. 349. Wilson, Am. Orn. Vol. 
2, p. 38, pi. 11, fig. 1 and 2 (male and female). 
Pitylus id. Covier, Regne Animal. 
F. ( Coccothraustes) id. Bonaparte, Ann. Lyc. N. Y. Vol 2, p. 113. Audubon, fol.pl. 159. 
Red-bird. Nuttall, Man. Orn. Vol. 1, p. 519. 
Cardinalis virginianus, Bonaparte, Geog. and Comp. List, p. 35. Kirtland, Ohio Rep. p. 184. Peabody, Mass. 
Rep. p. 329. 
Pitylus id* Audubon, B. of A. Vol. 3, p. 198, pi. 203. Giraud, Birds of Long island, p. 132. 
Characteristics. Red ; beneath brighter. Frontlet and chin black : bill red. Female and 
young , drab, tinged with reddish beneath ; tip of the crest, wings and 
tail tinged with red. Length, 8 inches. 
Description. Third, fourth and fifth primaries subequal, longest. Feathers of the crown 
long and pointed. Tail long, straight, rounded, 2'8 longer than the tips of the closed wings. 
Color. The outer webs of the quills red ; the inner brown towards the tips, and margined 
with red towards their bases. Forehead, lores, chin and upper part of the throat black. 
Female, crested; greyish brown above ; frontlet and chin brownish black; breast reddish 
drab ; belly mixed with grey; outer webs of the first six primaries whitish ; the tail not as 
long as in the male. 
Length, 8'0-8'5. Alar spread, 11 ■ 0 - 11'5. 
This beautiful bird is seen every year, during the heats of summer, in the Atlantic dis¬ 
trict of this State. I have also seen them in Delaware and Chenango counties. They 
doubtless breed with us, as they are known to do in the neighboring States of New-Jersey 
and Massachusetts, but I have never met with their nests. The eggs are dusky white, spotted 
with olive brown. On account of the beauty of their plumage and their notes, they are often 
reared, and breed in cages. A constant resident from Maryland to Mexico. In the summer, 
ranges and breeds to the 42d parallel. A constant resident in Ohio, where it is yearly be¬ 
coming more abundant. Feeds on fruits and berries, and the seeds of corn and grasses. 
Known in this State under the names of Reel-bird and Crested Red-bird. 
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