But a group of cardinals in a cedar tree in a snowy
winter landscape makes us forgetful of everything but their supreme beauty.
As might be expected in one of the finch family, the cardinal is a songster --
the fact which, in connection with his lovely plumage, accounts for the number
of these birds shipped in cages to Europe, where they are known as Virginia
nightingales. Commencing with a strong, rich whistle, like the high notes of a
fife, "Cheo-cheo-cheo-cheo," repeated over and over as if to make perfect the
start of a song he is about to sing, suddenly he stops, and you learn that
there is to be no glorious performance after all, only a prelude to --
nothing. The song, such as it is, begins, with both male and female, in March,
and lasts, with a brief intermission, until September -- "the most melodious
sigh," as Mr. Allen calls it. Early in May the cardinals build a bulky and
loosely made nest, usually in the holly, laurel, or other evergreen shrubs
that they always love to frequent, especially if these are near fields of corn
or other grain. And often two broods in a year come forth from the pale-gray,
brown-marked eggs, beating what is literally for them the "fatal gift of
beauty."
SUMMER TANAGER (Piranga rubra) Tanager family
Called also: REDBIRD; SMOOTH-HEADED REDBIRD
Length -- 7.
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