198 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



Female. Bill yellowish-red; elongated leathers on head and feathers of tail and 

 wings red ; above light-olive, tinged with yellowish on head ; lower parts brownish- 

 yellow, brightest on breast and gradually becoming darker on sides ; leathers around 

 bill and on throat indistinct ashy-black. 



Youny. Bill blackish ; colors duller ; otherwise very similar to adult female. Tho 

 young male soon attains his bright coat. Length about 9 inches ; cxtont about 12. 



.Haft. Eastern United States, north to New Jersey and the Ohio valley (casually 

 farther) west to the plains. 



The Cardinal or Winter Redbird, as it is here generally called, is a 

 rather plentiful resident in the lower half of Pennsylvania, but in 

 other sections of our State it is found only as a rare or occasional vis- 

 itor. The showy dress, the line and varied vocal powers of this shy 

 and vivacious whistler, are such that it is one of our most common 

 and entertaining cage birds. Although usually found inhabiting briery 

 thickets and wooded districts in the vicinage of rivers, ponds and 

 swampy localities, these birds, mostly in winter, when pressed by 

 hunger, and also occasionally in summer when in a measure they lack 

 their usual vigilance and shyness, come about our yards, houses and 

 barns in search of food, or to cheer and enliven us with their bright 

 presence and pleasing notes. In the southern States and elsewhere 

 where Redbirds are much more numerous than in Pennsylvania, they 

 at times assemble in large companies during the winter in swampy 

 thickets; in midwinter, with us, parties of a dozen or fifteen individ- 

 uals are sometimes observed in similar situations. This species is gen- 

 erally seen in pairs, though in the late summer and fall the adults and 

 young of the year of a single family are frequently found together. 

 The nest, a loosely-built structure composed of twigs, weed stems, 

 fibres of grape vine bark, grasses or other vegetable materials, is built 

 in bushes, vines and low trees. I have never found a nest situated 

 over six or eight feet from the ground. The eggs, 2 to 4 in number 

 (usually 3), are white or bluish white, spotted with different shades 

 of brown. They measure about 1 inch in length by f of an inch in 

 width. Feeds on seeds of numerous plants, especially rank seeds and 

 grasses; corn, wkeat,rye and oats are also eaten. They feed more or 

 less on insects, chief among which are beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, 

 ants, flies and numerous larval forms. Fruits of the cedar and mul- 

 berry trees, also strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, wild grapes 

 and other small fruits may be included among their favorite articles 

 of diet. This bird, with its large and powerful bill, operated by strong 

 muscles of its head, can readily break into fragments the hard grains 

 of maize, as well as the large seeds of different kinds on which it sub- 

 sists. Its known ability in this particular has earned for it, in some 

 places, the local name of Red Corncracker. 



