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Jwrcivu Finchcs in Caflivi/y.
singing. The lien incnbates alone, nsuallj- not fed by tlie male, tlie latter lio^vever
o-uards the hatch. Time of incubation fourteen da3-s. Yoiing fed by both parents ;
leave the nest in about twenty-two days, commonly sooner. Breeding season five to
six weeks. Laying four eggs, bluish, greenish or yellowish white, with dark spots.
Xesilim; limvii bluish. Young phiniagc duller than that of the female, without red;
beak black-brown. Ckanoe of colour:—In the fifth week the reddish tint shows up
more strongly, the red characters appkr. the beak changes through dull yellow
and yellowish red into red; a young male first becomes fully red and his beak
coral red in the third year. " Usnallj- peaceable, but at nesting-time malicious,
especialh^ towards its own kind; in the bird-room de\'0urs the j-oung out of other
nests, also kills old weakly birds, sometimes its own young; the latter occurs
from the want of some kind of food, or the pair is not sufficiently secure and
undisturbed. It is best to breed them in single pairs and separate the ^-oung as
soon as a new brood commences. Unassuming, vigorous; must not be kept too
warm, otherwise convulsions. Suitable for naturalizing in our country; has
wintered several times in the open, at Stettin an escaped pair nested in the pineforest."
Dr. W. j. Holland t sends me the follo^N'ing interesting account of his experience
of the Cardinal Grosbeak :—
" The Cardinal is an old acquaintance of mine. In the State of North Carolina,
where I spent some of the years of ni)' bo3-hood, this bird was ^•ery plentiful. In
South-Western Pennsylvania, while by no means uncommon, it is not nearl}- so
abundant as in the Carolinas. It nevertheless possesses a wide range upon the
continent, and may be found from Ontario to Florida, and from the Atlantic seaboard
to the plains of Kansas and Nebraska. The nests of which I have seen a great
many, are somewhat loosely constructed of small twigs, the bark of grape-vines, and
the leaves and stems of various grasses. The heavier and coarser materials are well
disposed on the outside, the bowl of the nest being thickh- lined in most cases with
the fine stems of the Kentucky blue-grass fPoa pratensisj. The nests are generalh"
built quite low, about five or six feet from the ground, and are well concealed in the
tangled vines and shrubbery, where they are located. The eggs are generally three
in number; sometimes there are only two, rarely- four. The nests are freqnenth'
sought out by that miserable interloper, the Co^\--Bunting, and I have on frequent
occasions disco\-ered that this bird, which has the habits of the European Cuckoo,
has deposited an egg in the nest of a Cardinal.
f Chancellor of Western University of Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
The Virginian. Cardinal. gy
The Red-birds in the South, wliere I had opportunity to study their habits
most closely, feed largely on the berries of the Juniper, or red cedar, and upon
tlie clusters of the wild grape which abounds in the lowlands along the rivers.
They are also very fond of seeds of various sorts, and with their powerful beaks
are able even to break the hard grains of the maize, or Indian Corn. They are
also highly insectivorous, and their diet consists to a large extent of grasshoppers,
beetles, and the larva; of Lepidoptera.
The clear musical note of the male combined .vith his brilliant plumage, have
made the Cardinal a favourite cage-bird. Our mutual acquaintance, Mr. Garner,
has attracted attention to himself b3' his researches in regard to the language of
monkeys. All the higher animals possessing vocal organs, have tlie po^ver^'of conimnnieating
^vitli each other to some extent, and one of the most beautiful illustrations
ot this fact, which I have ever noticed, came under my observation in connection with
the lovely bird of vdiich I a,m writing.
Some years ago I was paying a brief visit to friends residing in Atchison,
Kansas, and one afternoon, took a long collecting excursion beyond the western
suburbs of the place. The afternoon was hot, and after climbing a low hill, which
commanded a view of a narrow vallej- about half a mile in length, I lay down
under the shadow of a tree to rest. As I \vas lying there, far off to my left I
heard the clear call of a Cardinal. Presently to nij- right I heard it answered,
but the answer was so faint by reason of the distance that I could scarcely distinguish
it. A moment elapsed and the call from the left was repeated and
again answered from the right. Thus from moment to moment the call and its
answer were heard, constantly growing louder, until at last I the flashing
crimson of the wing of the male bird as it pitched on the top of a small tree to
my right, and almost at the same moment further down the glade I caught sight
of the darker pliiinaged feiiiale alighting on the top of a tall bush, and from bush
to tree-top they flew until at last they met almost directly in front of me upon a
low tree, and then fle«- rapidly a^^'ay in compaii)-. Precisely in the same fashion
I have called when in the ^voodlands, to a comrade lost for the time from my sight
and so he has answered me, and each answering the other, we have made our way
tOM-ard each other and ha^-e at last rejoined each other. The birds did exactly
what two hunters under like circumstances would have done. The birds she^^-ed
good sense."
Speaking of the silence and darkness of the Bird-room at night, where it is
scarcel_V possible to believe that about two hundred living beings are breathing,
Dr. Russ says It makes a peculiar impression upon me, if in the middle of
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