276 
FRINGILLA CARDINALIS. 
tonrether in a ca-re, fight violently. On placing a 
looking-glass before the cage, the gesticulations of the 
tenant are trnly laughable; yet with this he soon 
becomes so well acf|iiainte(l, that, in a short time, he 
takes no notice whatever of it ; a pretty good proo^ 
that he has discovered the true cause of tlie 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-bii’d, Virginia nighb 
iiigale, and crested red-bird, to distingiiish them front 
another beautiful species, the red tamiger. 
I do not know thatauy successful attempts have been 
made to induce these birds to pair and breed in confine- 
ment; but I have no doubt of its practicability, by 
proper management. Some months ago, 1 placed » 
yoting unfledged covv' bird (the frintfilla pecoris o^ 
Turton,) whose mother, like the cuckoo of EiiropCi 
abandons her eggs and progeny to the mercy and 
m.inagement of other smaller birds, in the same cag« 
with a red-bird, which fed and reared it uith grea* 
tenderness. They both continue to inhabit the sain* 
cage,^and 1 have bopt's that the red-bird will finish hi^ 
pupil’s education, by teaching him his song. 
I must here again n*mark, for the information d 
foreiffners, that the story told by Le Page du Pratz, 
his Mistovy oj Limisianfi, and which has been so often 
repeated by other writers, that the <'ardinal grosbeak 
“ collects together gte.at hoards of maize and buck- 
wheat, often as much as a bushel, which it artfull5[ 
covers with leaves and small tu igs, leaving only a sroaU 
hole for entrance into the magazine,” is entirely fabn- 
This species is eight inches long, and eloA'en h* 
extent; the whole upper parts are a dull dusky ceA 
except the sides of the neck and head, which, as 
as the whole lower parts, are bright vermilion ; cl'ini 
front, and lores, black ; the head is ornamenteil with n 
high, pointed crest, which it frequently erects in n" 
almost perpendicular position; and can' also flatten 
