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CARDINAL GROSBEAK 



fields of England ; because, it is a well known fact, that singing 

 birds seldom frequent the former, in any country. But let the lat- 

 ter places be compared with the like situations in the United States, 

 and the superiority of song, I am fully persuaded, would justly be- 

 long to the western continent. The few of our song birds that have 

 visited Europe extort admiration from the best judges. "The notes 

 of the Cardinal Grosbeak," says Latham "are almost equal to those 

 of the Nightingale.'' Yet these notes, clear and excellent as they 

 are, are far inferior to those of the Wood Thrush ; and even to 

 those of the Brown Thrush or Thrasher. Our inimitable Mock- 

 ing-bird is also acknowledged, by themselves, to be fully equal to 

 the song pf the Nightingale " in its whole compass.'' Yet these 

 are not one-tenth of the number of our singing birds. Could these 

 people be transported to the borders of our woods and settlements, 

 in the month of May, about half an hour before sunrise, such a 

 ravishing concert would greet their ear as they have no concep- 

 tion of. 



The males of the Cardinal Grosbeak, when confined together 

 in a cage, fight violently. On placing a looking-glass before the 

 cage, the gesticulations of the tenant are truly laughable ; yet with 

 this he soon becomes so well acquainted, that, in a short time, he 

 takes no notice whatever of it ; a pretty good proof that he has dis- 

 covered the true cause of the appearance to proceed from himself. 

 They are hardy birds, easily kept, sing six or eight months in the 

 year, and are most lively in wet weather. They are generally 

 known by the names. Red-bird, Virginia Red-bird, Virginia Night- 

 ingale, and Crested Red-bird, to distinguish them from another 

 beautiful species which is represented on the same plate. 



I do not know that any successful attempts have been made to 

 induce these birds to pair and breed in confinement ; but I have no 

 doubt of its practicability by proper management. Some months 

 ago I placed a young unfledged Cow-bird (the Fringilla pecoris of 

 Turton), whose mother, like the Cuckoo of Europe, abandons her 



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