The Virginian Cardinal.
83
imd It IS then that an exact comparison of the males should he made. There can
be no question, however, about the difference of the females." Dr Sharpe thns
distinguishes the hens coccincu., with the facial mask entirely black- from
Eastern Mexico, Mirador to Yucatan and British Honduras. C. 'i.ncu. ,vith no
black mark on the face; lores and chin ashy whitish; from Lower California
probably throughout Western Mexico north of the Rio Grande to Santiago and
Tres Marias Islands.
Of C. carncu,, the liabitat of which is Western Mexico, from Acapulco to
the Cohma district, the female is unknown; but the male is of a rosier tint without
ashy margins to the feathers of the back, and with the feathers of thL crest
elongated and stiffened.
It seems necessary- to me to give these characters, by which the different
races of the Cardinal Grosbeak may be distinguished; because it is quite possible
Uiat^ they may at any time be imported, and come into the possession of amateiir
Ornithologists, The nearly allied Venezuelan Cardinal is less likeh- to be obtained
but may easily be recognized by its longer crest and the almost entire absence of
the black facial mask, excepting on the cliin.
The Virginian Cardinal was one of the first cage-birds ever imported from
North America. The early settlers, who doubtless looked back witli a lonpiii^
eye to the country which they had left, tried to imagine a resemblance in some
respect between the songs of the birds in this, the land of their exile and those
of their old home: they consequently gave to the Virginian Cardinal the very
eulogistic title of " Virginian Nightingale."
Latham speaking of the soug of this bird, says that its notes "are almost
equal to those of the nightingale" ; but judging from the performance of the
two cock birds which I ha^-e kept, I should say that no comparison could be
made between the two, without offering an unpardonable insult to our little
russet-coloured summer visitor. The song of this Cardinal, as a matter of fact
consists wholly of a repetition of the Chinese word "Chow," whistled indeed'
mid therefore more musical than if spoken. It may thus be rendered, as I have
heard It many times u t t e r e d . / . . . a , cho^., chorv, cho^«; chcc-ow;
then follows a pause and the same thing over againthe
first part of the song is deliberate and loud, but after the it is
lower, more liquid in tone, and much more rapid.*
At the same time, compared with the performances of the Bunting Cardinals
" if so, i.. case is
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