414 Canaries axd Cage-Birds. 



part of the improvised nest-box. About fourteen or sixteen days matured the eggs, and the j'oung 

 birds were well nurtured by both their parents. But a liberal supply of mealworms generally 

 doomed the young brood to an early death, and stimulated the old birds to lay again. Cautioned 

 by experience, I avoided mealworms, and by the substitution of fresh ants' eggs, egg-food mixed 

 with soaked ants' eggs, and Thrushes' food, succeeded in bringing up several broods. 



It is a curious fact that several books on foreign cage-birds say the female of the Green 

 Cardinal resembles the male closely. Surely those writers have never seen a pair, for every child 

 could tell the difference at a glance. If the reader will look at the illustration of the male Green 

 Cardinal, and imagine all the bright green colour removed, and a light grey with just a greenish tint 

 at edges substituted, he will have a fair picture of the female. Young males resemble the female on 

 leaving the nest, but assume a marked green tinge in a few weeks, and cannot be distinguished 

 from old birds when twelve months old. 



CARDINAL GROSBEAK (Cai-dinalu Virginiajius), North America. (Illustrated.) 

 Coccothraustes Virginiamts (Russ), Loxia cardiimlh, Coccothraiistes cardinalis, Fringilla cardinalis, Pitylus cardinalis. English 

 dealers' name — Virginian Nightingale, or Red Cardinal. German name—" Rother Cardinal." French name — " Cardinal A.t 

 Virginie." 



Enthusiastic American writers have named the Cardinal Grosbeak " Virginian Nightingale," 

 and have described his song as equal or superior to that of the European Nightingale. Tastes differ. 

 According to American taste the Mocking-bird " beats all creation " in song, whilst most people on 

 this side of the Atlantic prefer the Thrush's song. I have heard frogs called Dutch nightingales, 

 and the poor Nightingale must lend her name to all sorts of musicians. However, the Cardinal 

 Grosbeak, or Red Cardinal, is certainly a diligent and melodious songster, though to my taste 

 the song is too loud. Dr. Russ frequently heard the Red Cardinal sing in his bird-room after 

 dark ; and other observers, who kept hen-birds in separate cages, state that they also sing. 

 In their wild state the Red Cardinals will probably sleep silently at night, and the female will 

 probably be too busy with her progeny to practise singing. At all events, those Virginian 

 Cardinals which I kept in an open-air aviary sang only in broad daylight, and preferred to 

 display their musical talents perched on the top of a bush or clinging to the wires. 



The bird is one of great beauty, and deserves all his popularity. Whether we overpraise 

 his vocal merits or not, his song surpasses in richness that of most other foreign birds, and 

 with moderate care the Red Cardinal is one of the most hardy and enduring cage-birds. His 

 plumage is of a uniform brilliant red tint, excepting the face, which is black. The head is 

 ornamented by a red crest, which the bird can erect at pleasure. The beak is strong and 

 red like the plumage, and if I had had to name the bird, I should have felt inclined to 

 call him Mephistopheles. The hen is rusty brown. Contrasted with green foliage, the Red 

 Cardinal looks very beautiful indeed, and he retains his beauty all the year round, and with 

 proper treatment for many years. If improperly fed, or deprived of sunshine, fresh air, and 

 plenty of water to bathe in, the red plumage will become dull. 



Seeds — i.e., canary, millet, oats, hemp-seed — and Indian corn are the staple food of this 

 Cardinal, but a little egg-food, ants' eggs, chopped meat, a few mealworms, spiders, flies, or 

 beetles should be given in small quantities, if not daily yet several times per week. Ripe 

 fruit, green peas, and elderberries he is very fond of Few foreign birds are as indifferent to 

 changes in temperature as the Red Cardinal, and he may be seen in open-air aviaries as cheerful 

 and happy during a severe frost as on the warmest summer day. 



To breed him is not difficult, for he will build his nest in a box, a German canary-cage, 



