194 CARDINAL. 



uttered in the broad glare of day, and is heard predominant over most of the feathered 

 choir by which he is surrounded. His responding mate is the perpetual companion of 

 all his joys and cares; simple and content in his attachment, he is a stranger to 

 capricious romance of feeling ; and the shades of melancholy, however feeble and transient, 

 find no harbor in his preoccupied affections." 



In order to form a correct idea of the great beauty of the Redbird's song and of 

 the charming impression it makes on the mind of the hearer, we are obliged to pene- 

 trate its bushy haunts. This is best done in the morning when the dew is still on the 

 plants and the air laden with the fragrance of the flowers. In the northern parts of its 

 range it is a rare bird, and extremely wild and shy, though conspicuous even in such 

 secluded resorts by the brillancy of its coloration, the power of its Toice, and the activity 

 of its disposition. In its southern home we have not far to go in order to hearken to 

 its song. In the large gardens, where dense evergreen ornamental shrubs, coniferous 

 trees, rose thickets and a wealth of climbing plants abound, the Cardinal is almost as 

 numerous as in the secluded thickets of the wildwood. In these gardens it is a familiar 

 bird, and its sweetest notes resound on all sides. From late in January, when the roses 

 and camellias begin to open their flower-buds, until November, when the southern woods 

 are brilliant with autumn hues, the many-voiced jubilee of these birds is heard, blending 

 with the enchanting notes of the Mockingbird, the vivacious strain of the Carolina Wren 

 and the notes of many other birds. On two occasions the marvelous beauty of the Car- 

 dinal's song was impressed most vividly on my memory. While walking along the edge 

 of the forest near Spring Creek, Harris Co., Texas, one morning in early March, I heard 

 the loud whistling notes of these birds on all sides, as I had never listened to them before. 

 The trees consisted almost exclusively of hollies S some of them beautiful pyramids of 

 deepest green, still sparkling with myriads of shining red berries. They grew with 

 branches so low, that the trunks were entirely hidden. In these trees the Cardinals sang 

 incessantly, heightening the effect and deepening the impression made by the surrounding 

 landscape. At another time I passed a large garden in Houston. The magnolias were in 

 full flower. The roses bloomed in a profusion the like of which I had never seen before. 

 Cape jasmines, loquats, banana shrubs, retinisporas, cypresses, cedars, raphiolepis^ pho- 

 tinias'', and many other ornamental plants flourished to perfection in this garden. 



It was an ideal spring day of such beauty as I had never experienced in the North. 

 The air was warm and laden with the fragrance of flowering tea and Noisette roses, 

 magnolias, banana shrubs, and Cape jasmines. Though it was bright sunshine, the 

 salubrious breeze from th? Gulf made out of door rambling very pleasant. The Cardinals 

 were at home in this garden. From every thicket the loud and melodious strain fell on 

 my ear. I heard at least six males and several females at the same time. While sing- 

 ing they were usually perched on the top of some ornamental shrub, on an arbor or on 

 the fence. Hardly ever I heard such a fine bird concert in a city, and it shows how 

 a fine garden of the South is made attractive by the presence of this exquisite songster. 

 Mockingbirds were also pouring forth their charming notes, and Orchard Orioles and 

 Painted Buntings completed this bird jubilee. While singing the Cardinal raises its crest 

 which gives character to the bird and reveals its whole beauty. I think, the effect of the 



» Ilex opaca. s R. Japoaica and R. ovata. a Photinia serrulate. 



