CARDINAL GROSBEAK. 
109 
from the weeds and sought shelter in these bushes. I went in pursuit of them in order to 
ascertain what they were, when my attention was attracted by a chirp not unlike that of 
the Fox-colored Sparrow, yet it seemed sharper. I could not imagine what the author of 
this cry could be, so advanced cautiously, at the same time peering into the undergrowth, 
when suddenly a brightly colored bird dashed across a small opening, looking like a flash 
of red light. I then recognized the Cardinal Grosbeak but was quite surprised to find that 
they frequented low bushes. This, however, has been their habit wherever I have chanced 
to meet them. On the Sea Islands they are common along the borders of the cotton fields 
and were very abundant, late in October, in low bushes on the banks of the famous Deep 
Cut of the Delaware and Chesapeake Canal. An apparent inclination to sociability causes 
them to flock even during winter, on the approach of spring this feeling increases and large 
numbers assemble in order to feed upon the newly ripened seeds of maple which are nearly 
ready to fall early in February. I have seen upwards of twenty feeding on one small tree 
and, as it was destitute of leaves, the brightly plumaged birds gave it a singular appear¬ 
ance. When eating they are silent but never quiet, and while jumping from limb to limb, 
clinging to the under side of a branch, or swinging from some topmost bough in order to 
reach a tempting cluster of seeds, they assume various graceful positions. A little later 
in the season they may be seen searching for seeds and insects on the ground, for which 
purpose they frequently scratch among the fallen leaves after the manner of the Towhee 
Bunting. 
All through the winter they are comparatively silent, but when the jasimine begins 
to show its yellow flowers and the air is fragrant with its perfume, the full, clear notes of 
the Cardinal may be heard from morning until evening. Their exceedingly fine song and 
brilliant plumage attracts universal attention and consequently the Bed Birds, as they are 
always called in the South, are general favorites. Confident of not being disturbed they 
build their nests near dwellings, in fact, like the Mocking Birds, they appear to seek the 
presence of man as a protection from natural enemies, and thus are rarely found in unin¬ 
habited sections. 
In Florida the nests are frequently placed in orange trees about five feet from the 
ground. The eggs are deposited about the middle of April when the orange blossoms are 
filling the air with their delightful odor. The females sit very closely and I have nearly 
placed my hand on them before they would fly. There were never over three eggs in the 
nests which I found in Florida but further north they lay four as a regular number. This 
circumstance would, at first thought, seem to indicate that the Cardinals of Florida posses 
less vigor, but I think it is rather due to the fact that they breed oftener than those fur¬ 
ther north. The eggs are also larger. Both sexes exhibit great solicitude on being dis¬ 
turbed when breeding, uttering their sharp cry of alarm which causes all the birds of the 
same species in the immediate vicinity to assemble. *Then in a few moments one will be 
surrounded by quite a quantity of the red-plumaged Cardinals. There are always numbers 
within call as they breed in communities, and I have found at least a dozen nests in one 
small grove. The assembled Cardinals will hop restlessly about, with crests elevated, 
showing the utmost sympathy for the pair that are in trouble. This fellow feeling is not 
only evinced during the breeding season but this bird is one of the most compassionate that 
