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Range (Eastern United States breeds) (IV)

Eastern United States; breeds from Florida to Iowa and southern New York; resident throughout its range. Washington, common P. R.; less common than formerly. Sing Sing, A. V. Cambridge, casual, two instances.

Nest, of twigs, rootlets, and strips of bark, lined with grasses and rootlets, in bushes. Eggs, three to four, white or bluish white, speckled or spotted with grayish brown, cinnamon-brown, or umber, 1.00 x 70. One's first impression of the Cardinal Grosbeak will usually be that he is rather a clumsy fellow. His body appears to be stiff, as if it were made of wood, different in every way from the pliant, lithe body of the Catbird, for example. He hops about on the ground with tail held well up out of harm's way, and comes heavily down upon his feet, as if his body were really very solid. In fact, he is not at all a graceful bird.

He is a famous singer, his song being a loud, clear whistle, into which usually enters quite frequently the sound of q! q! q! and a peculiar long-drawn-out e-ē! sometimes syllabled as "three chēērs!" He is a favorite cage-bird. The female Cardinal is herself a charming singer, more pleasing to many than her mate, her music being softer in tone and otherwise different from his. The common call-note of both is a sharp, abrupt tsip! easily recognized after being once heard.

As the head of a family the Cardinal is admirable, not only in his attentions to his lovely dove-colored mate, but in singing to her by the hour, and in protecting her from intrusion or danger. To the young in the nest he is an untiring provider of worms and grubs, and thus most useful in a garden. Nothing can be more comical than his behavior when he first conducts his young family out into the world while his mate is engaged with her second sitting. He is as fussy as any young FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. mother, hopping about in great excitement, and appearing to think the whole world thirsting for the life of his pretty little ones. The Cardinal mother shows the restless manners and anxious spirit of her mate, taking one's intrusion upon her domestic affairs greatly to heart, and being so much disturbed that there is more pain than pleasure in making acquaintance with her nestlings.

OLIVE THORNE MILLER. 595. Habia ludoviciana (Linn.). ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. Ad. ε.-Head, throat, and back black; breast and under wing-coverts bright rose-red, this color sometimes extending down the center of the white belly; rump white, tipped with black; wings black; primaries white at the base; tail black, the outer feathers tipped with white on the inner web. Ad..- Upper parts grayish brown, margined with cream-buff and pale grayish brown; a buffy line through the center of the crown, and a conspicuous whitish line over the eye; wings and tail dark grayish brown; wing-coverts tipped with white; under wing-coverts orange; under parts buffy, streaked with dark grayish brown. Im. 5. - Resembles the, but has the under wing-coverts rose-red. L., 8-12; W., 402; T., 2.99; B., 69.