OF NEW ENGLAND. 235 
(a). About 84 inches long; crested. , black about the 
bill, but otherwise of a brilliant vermilion, which is ‘dull upon 
the back. 9, dull brown above, much paler beneath, with 
vermilion on the crest, and traces of it elsewhere. 
(b). The nest seems to resemble strongly that of the Rose- 
breasted Grosbeak, though more substantial. The eggs aver- 
age 1:05:80 of an inch, and are white, evenly spotted with 
(dull) brown and faint lilac. 
(c). The gorgeous Cardinal Grosbeaks seem to have oc- 
curred occasionally in Massachusetts as wanderers from the 
South, and not merely as escaped cage-birds. They are ha- 
bitually summer-residents for the most part in the Southern 
States, where they inhabit shrubbery, groves, thickets, and like 
places. They feed principally upon various seeds and grain, 
and are probably somewhat injurious on this account. Not 
only are the males extremely brilliant, and very conspicuous in 
their haunts, but both sexes sing finely. 
(da). “They are in song” says Wilson ‘‘from March to 
September, beginning at the first appearance of dawn, and 
repeating a favorite stanza, or passage, twenty or thirty times 
successively ; sometimes with little intermission for a whole 
morning together ; which, like a good story too often repeated, 
becomes at length tiresome and insipid. But the sprightly fig- 
ure, and gaudy plumage of the Red-bird, his vivacity, strength 
of voice, and actual variety of note, and the little expense 
with which he is kept, will always make him a favorite.” 
It is said that a stuffed specimen can never convey an ade- 
quate idea of the Cardinal Grosbeak’s beauty, as the intensity 
of his color disappears very soon after death. 
XXIV. PASSER 
(A) pvomzsricus.7> House Sparrow. English Sparrow. 
(An imported bird, common in many of our cities and towns, 
but not yet to be found in the country, with a few exceptions.) 
(a). About six inches long. Nostrils covered. g. Above, 
7 This species apparently belongs to the genus Pyrgita (XXV). 
