CARDINAL. 191 



Cherokee rose hedges, when the female happened to dart fropi it. I also found nests in 

 the corners of rail-fences overgrown and hidden by the trumpet creeper and poison ivy, 

 in bushes overhanging the water, in brush-heaps, and especially in blackberry brambles. 

 In most cases the nest is a frail, loose structure, built of rootlets, grasses, twigs, grape- 

 vine bark and a layer of leaves, lined with pine-needles, rootlets, or grasses. Sometimes 

 a few horse hairs also enter into the composition. The description of one nest suffices 

 for almost all. On April 24, 1881, while walking through a pine-wood near Houston, 

 I discovered several Cardinal nests, almost all in dense Cherokee roses. Long-leaved 

 pines, sweet gum, oaks, and elms were the prevailing trees, and the ground was on 

 many places covered with a dense growth of blackberry bushes. Bird-life was exceedingly 

 abundant. While observing a pair of White-eyed "Vireos, 1 discovered a few steps from 

 the domicile of these birds a female Cardinal on her nest. This was placed in the center 

 of a rather open blackberry bush about two feet frOm the ground, and consisted Uke 

 almost all nests in this region of a foundation of Spanish moss. Upon this were placed 

 some dry elm leaves, shreds of grape-vine bark and grass-blades; the cavity was lined 

 with fine rootlets, pine-needles, and grasses. Underneath the nest and around the shrub 

 dense mats of partridge-berry {Mitchella repens) grew, the starry white flowers of 

 which filled the air with a delicate perfume. This nest contained four eggs — three and 

 four eggs always seem to complete the set. 



The ground-Color of the eggs is usually whitish or bluish or greenish-white. The 

 markings are densely scattered over the surface. They vary from pale lavender and 

 grayish to a dull reddish-brown. Some are so densely marked as to conceal almost 

 entirely the ground-color. In some cases the eggs closely resemble those of the Cow- 

 bird's, in others they remind us of the Loggerhead Shrike's eggs and the Rose-breasted 

 Grosbeak's. The female alone hatches the eggs, but it is guarded and now and then 

 fed by the male. The time of hatching is about thirteen days. During the first few 

 days the young are fed w^ith small insects, especially green eater-pillars, moths, bugs, 

 and all kinds of larvas, later they are also supplied with grasshoppers and beetles. Ten 

 days after they are hatched they are able to leave the nest. They look exceedingly 

 wild, and frequently I made the* observation, that they all left the nest quickly and in 

 great excitement, when I came near, disappearing in all directions among the bushes. 

 Other young birds, when nearly able to leave the nest, act entirely in the same w^ay, 

 but they do not look so wild and unruly. The young are led by the parents into some 

 thicket, w^here they remain until they are able to shift for themselves. In the meantime 

 the female hatches a second and often a third brood. During the whole of the breeding 

 season the male is extremely pugnacious, wild, and watchful, attacking and driving 

 away from his haunts every intruder of his own species and also small nest robbers 

 and squirrels. When danger threatens a warning call sounding like a sharp cbp-chp is 

 uttered. When I came near a nest both parents usually hopped around with raised 

 crests in great distress. At such times they look very wild. In real danger, especially 

 when a tree-climbing snake approaches, they even call other Cardinals to their aid, and 

 other birds breeding in the same locality alw^ays join to drive away the intruder. One 

 day, while walking through the thickets near the West Yegua Creek, I heard the scream- 

 ing of many birds and when I came near, Cardinals, Mockingbirds, Summer Tanagers, 



