A BUNCH OF BRIGHT BIRDS 275 



I began repeating to myself under my breath, 

 " O my soul ! O my soul ! " And in sober truth 

 the creature was deserving of all the admiration 

 it excited : a bird of the cardinal's size and build, 

 dressed not in gaudy red, but in the most exqui- 

 site shade of gray, with a plentiful spiUing of 

 an equally exquisite rose color over its under 

 parts. Its bright orange bill was surrounded at 

 the base by a double ring of black and rose, 

 and on its head was a most distinguished-looking, 

 divided crest, tipped with rose color of a deeper 

 shade. It was loveliness to wonder at. I cannot 

 profess that I was awe-struck (not being sure 

 that I know just what that excellent word means), 

 but it would hardly be too much to say that " as 

 I passed, I worshiped." 



The Arizona bird, unhappily, was not often 

 seen (the Texas bird treated me better), though 

 when I did come upon it, it was generally in ac- 

 cessible places (in wayside hedgerows) not far 

 from houses. It would be impossible to see either 

 the Texas or the Arizona bird for the first time 

 without comparing it with the cardinal, the two 

 are so much alike, and yet so different. The 

 cardinal is brighter, but for beauty give me 

 Pyrrhuloxia. I do not expect the sight of any 

 other bird ever to fill me with quite so rapturous 

 a delight in pure color as that first unlooked-for 



