70 
The Cardinal 
Cardinals are not migratory, but remain all the year round wherever 
they are found ; and this means all over the southern half of the United 
States. The northern limit of the range of the species is approximately 
the fortieth parallel of latitude as far west as the dry plains, where the 
limit turns south through Texas to northern Mexico. 
Habitat In the remote Southwest, and thence through Mexico 
to Honduras, the species is represented by several 
subspecies showing a greater intensity of color than even our birds may 
boast. 
Here and there, however, Cardinals have made their home north of 
the line described, as for example, in the parks of New York City, 
encouraged by protection and plentiful food; and they have occasionally 
been noted as far north as Nova Scotia and southern Ontario. Some 
of these far wanderers were probably escaped cage-birds. Alexander 
Wilson says in his “American Ornithology,” which was published in 1828 : 
“This is one of our most common cage-birds, and is very generally 
known, not only in North America, but even in Europe ; numbers of 
them having been carried over to France and England, in which last 
country they are usually called Virginia Nightingales.” 
It is true that in former times, and until recently, large numbers of 
Cardinals were caught in traps, or were taken from the nest when young, 
and sold to bird-dealers to be sent to foreign countries as cage-birds; 
but this traffic has now been stopped, owing to the 
generous efforts of the National Association of Audu- 
bon Societies. The Audubon Law, which is now in 
force in all the States where the Cardinal is found, prohibits all traffic 
in these birds, and forbids their being shipped from any State. 
The Cardinal is too beautiful and valuable a bird to be confined 
within the narrow limits of a cage, where its splendid spirit is soon 
broken by its unavailing attempts to escape. Mrs. Olive Thorne Miller, 
in one of her popular sketches of bird-life, says of a captive Cardinal: 
“He is a cynic, morose and crusty.” Such a character cannot be attributed 
to the Cardinal when it is at liberty. Its wild, free song, its restless activ- 
ity and its boldness, are the antitheses of a depressed cage-captive. Even 
when it receives the best care from its human jailer, it is still a prisoner 
confined in a space so small that it never has an opportunity to stretch 
its wings in flight, nor can it ever bathe in the bright sunshine or view 
the blue skies above it. The whispering of the winds through the sylvan 
shades is lost to the captive forever. Is it strange that the nature of 
this wild, free spirit changes? 
In the South, where the Cardinal is one of the most 
abundant birds, it is a special favorite, rivaling the 
Mockingbird in the affections of the people. It is commonly found in 
towns as well as in rural districts. 
The female bird builds the nest, which is loosely constructed of 
leaves, bark, twigs, and shreds of grape-vine, and is lined with dry 
Once a 
Cage-Bird 
A General 
Favorite 
