AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 265 



CARDINAL 



A. O- V. No. 593. (Cardiiialis cardiualis) 



RANGE. 



Eastern United States; north to the Great Lakes and southern New 

 England; west to the Plains. Cardinals are sub-divided into three sub- 

 species which are found in the southwestern parts of the United States. 

 They are; — Arizona Cardinal isut>erb2is) , Saint Lucas Cardinal {igneus) , 

 and Gray-tailed Cardinal {canicatidus) . 



DESCRIPTION. 



Length, 8.5 in.; extent, 12 in.; tail, 4 in. Eye, brown; bill, pinkish. 

 Adult male: — Intense fiery red, sometimes vermillion and in some birds 

 rosy; the back, wings and tail are somewhat darker and obscured with 

 grayish. Female: — above grayish brown; yellowish brown below, 

 tinged in places with reddish; the crest is nearly as bright red as in the 

 male. 



The first plumage of the young male is like that of the female but 

 soon changes to that of the adult. 



NEST AND EGGS. 



The Cardinal nests very abundantly throughout the south. The 

 nests are ordinarily placed in thickets not more than ten feet from the 

 ground, although as is always the case with any bird, numerous except- 

 ions may be found from the general rule. They have been found in 

 brush heaps, on fence rails, on stumps, and probably do not hesitate 

 to place their nest upon the ground if necessity warrants it. 



The nest is very loosely constructed of twigs rootlets and perhaps 

 grapevine, and is lined with a few fine grasses and sometimes horsehair. 

 Their eggs present quite a variation in markings and also in the tint of 

 the ground color. The brownish spots are sometimes thickly sprinkled 

 over the whole surface of the ^ZZ and sometimes very sparsely. The 

 ground color varies from a cream color to a pale greenish blue- 

 They lay from three to five eggs, although the majority of sets contain 

 four. The nesting season usually begins about the first of May. 



HABITS. 



The handsome Cardinals are quite abundant within the limits of their 

 range, and they are also quite well known without their boundries too, 



