CARDINAL GROSBEAK. 147 
museum, the stuffed skin of one of these birds, which is there 
said to have lived in a cage upward of twenty-one years. 
The opinion which so generally prevails in England, that the 
music of the groves and woods of America is far inferior to that 
of Europe, I, who have a thousand times listened to both, can- 
not admit to be correct. We cannot with fairness draw a com- 
parison between the depth of the forest in America, and the 
cultivated fields of England; because it is a well known fact, that 
singing birds seldom frequent the former, in any countr}^ But 
let the latter places be compared with the like situations in the 
United States, and the superiority of song, I am fully persua- 
ded, would justly belong 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 Mocking-bird is also ac- 
knowledged, by themselves, to be fully equal to the song of the 
Nightingale “in its whole compass.” Yet these are notone- 
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 ravish- 
ing concert would greet their ear as they have no conception 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 discovered the true cause of the appearance to pro- 
ceed 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 Nightingale, and Crested Red-bird, to dis- 
tinguish them from another beautiful species which is represen- 
ted on the same plate. 
