CHAPTER VII 



Unusual Experiences Afield 



4 BOUT the time of the pubhcation of "The 

 /\ Song of the Cardinal" a man in Indiana- 

 X \. pohs pubhshed a sharp criticism of my 

 natural history, because I had described these 

 birds as occasionally eating a stray bug or worm. 

 He said that the cardinal grosbeak was named for 

 its heavy sharp beak, which is especially designed 

 for crushing seeds, so everyone knew that these 

 birds were seed-eaters. So they are, as a rule, but 

 all cardinals with which I have been intimately 

 acquainted during a lifetime of experience have 

 taken a few bugs and worms to change their diet, 

 while in captivity they greet a bit of fresh scraped 

 beefsteak with every sign of intense pleasure. The 

 one lure that I found most effective in attract- 

 ing cardinals to given locations before set cameras 

 was to wire bits of bright red fresh beefsteak to 

 the shrubbery I had in focus. Every woman 

 who has ever kept a canary as a pet knows that 

 this bird will sicken and die if she does not inter- 

 sperse its staple diet of seed with lettuce leaves 

 and apple; and unless canaries are given scraped 

 beefsteak in the spring at the brooding time they 



125 



