CARDINAL 



A BIT OF FLAME IN FEATHERS 



O closely do we associate brightly 

 colored birds with the tropics that 

 the Cardinal seems like a visitor 

 from the Eqiwtor. At least we 

 expect him to pass the winter there, 

 but all seasons seem alike to him, 

 and he appears to feel as much at home In a snow- 

 storm as in some tangled thicket richly clad with 

 foliage. Brilliant as he is against a white back- 

 ground, he is even more fiery in summer, the gray- 

 ish tips to his feathers, which slightly veil his plum- 

 age in winter, having at that season worn off. But 

 at all times he has a surprising way of disappearing 

 when one would think there was not enough cover 

 near to conceal his gleaming coat. Then, only his 

 sharp, small chip, tells us in what bush he is hiding. 

 It Is when he is singing that the Cardinal can be 

 seen to best advantage. Then he often seeks an ex- 

 posed perch where his message will be borne to the 

 four points of the compass, and head erect, crest 

 raised, calls in his rich, sympathetic voice "De-ar, 



58 



