18 THE ORNITHOLOGISTS’ AND Oo.ocisrs’ S—Em1-ANNUAL. 
Putting the eggs in the bag, I lowered it by a string to the ground. 
Once in my descent I slipped but saved myself by catching on a 
limb, and without further accident reached the ground. The eggs 
were pale white in color, measuring 3x2.52;3.02x2.51 and 3.05x2.54. 
Date, Feb. 19, 81. Next day I bid my colored friends a tearful (?) 
farewell and was soon home again after having a delightful recreation 
of four weeks. si, Sk O)-] 
THE CARDINAL GROSBEAK. 
| Cardinalis virginianus. 
BY PROF. J. A. SINGLEY, GIDDINGS, TEXAS. 
This is our most common species, resident, and found everywhere, 
even in the scattered clumps of timber on the prairies. It prefers 
the bottoms however, and 75 per cent. of the individuals will be found 
there. During the winter it is reinforced by the migrants from fur- 
ther north and the bottoms are fairly alive with the Cardinals. It cannot 
be called a noisy bird only in the breeding season, when its musical 
whistle is heard from every clamp of shrubbery. The adult male is a 
rich red color on the back ; wings and tail slightly mixed with grayish 
—a black mask entirely surrounding the bill. Length, 8.00-9.00 in. ; 
extent, 11.00-12.00 inches. The female is of an ashy-brown color, 
paler and yellowish below ; the crest reddish and bill red same as that 
of the male. Average size, a little less than the male, Specimens 
taken here are not strictly typical, as they merge into the sub-species 
Cardinalts virginianus igneus of the Mexican border. There is less 
variation in the nests of this bird than of any other species with which 
I am acquainted, and the greatest variation in the eggs. 
Nesting usually commences early in April, sometimes in the latter 
part of March, and continues until August ; two if not three broods 
being reared. The nest is always started with twigs or brambles, then 
a few pliant weed stems and strips of grape-vine bark are added; on 
this a number of dead leaves, and finally finished and lined with fine 
grass. It is placed anywhere from a bush a foot high up to twenty 
feet in a tree (seldom up to that height.) 
The eggs number three or four, seldom two, and vary in number in 
