﻿40 Bird - Lore 



them having been carried over both to France and England, in which last 

 country they are usually called Virginia Nightingales." 



Dr. Russ, the great German aviculturist, says, "Beloved in its home by 

 both Americans and Germans, it is protected and caught only for the cage- 

 bird fancy. Had been bred in Holland a century and a half ago and later in 

 England." It is true that until recently large numbers of Cardinals were 

 caught or taken from the nest while young, for shipment to foreign coun- 

 tries by bird dealers. Owing to the efforts of the National Association, this 

 traffic is a thing of the past. The Model Law, which is in force in all the 

 states where the Cardinal is found, prohibits all traffic in these birds and 

 forbids their being shipped from the state. 



The Cardinal is too beautiful and valuable a bird to be confined within 

 the narrow limits of a cage, where its splendid spirit is soon broken by it 

 unavailing attempts to escape. Mrs. Olive Thorne Miller, in one of her 

 charming pictures of bird life, says of a captive Cardinal, that, "He is a 

 cynic, morose and crusty." Such a character cannot be attributed to the 

 Cardinal when it is at liberty. Its wild free song, its restless activity and 

 its boldness are the antithesis of a depressed cage captive. Even when it 

 receives the best care from its human jailor it is still a prisoner confined in a 

 space so small that it never has an opportunity to stretch its wings in flight, 

 nor can it ever bathe in the bright sunshine or view the blue skies above it. 

 The whispering of the winds through the sylvan shades is lost to the cap- 

 tive forever. Is it strange that the nature of this wild free spirit changes ? 



The writer has seen many hundreds of these beautiful birds in cages 

 ready to be shipped, each one doomed to a short existence, a prisoner and 

 an exile. Fortunately, this condition is now changed; and, had the National 

 Association accomplished no other good, the stopping of the cage-bird 

 traffic would be a sufficient reason for its organization. 



In the South, where the Cardinal is one of the most abundant birds, it is 

 a special favorite, rivaling the Mocking-bird in the affections of the people. 

 It is commonly found in the towns as well as the rural districts. The female 

 bird builds the nest, which is loosely constructed of leaves, bark, twigs, shreds 

 of grape-vine, and is lined with dry grasses. The nest is placed in bushes or 

 vines from eight to ten feet from the ground. Three or four white eggs, 

 speckled with brown, are laid, and it is probable that in the South two broods 

 of young are raised each season. The home life of Cardinals is a pattern of 

 domestic felicity, so true are the sexes to each other. Even in winter they 

 seem to be paired, for a male and a female are always seen together. How- 

 ever, during the season of incubation the tender solicitude of the male for 

 his mate is best shown. In fact, his extreme anxiety that the home and its 

 inmates should not be discovered excites him so much that he actually leads 

 the visitor to the nest in the attempt to mislead. 



The song of the male Cardinal is loud and clear, with a melodious ring, 



