Young Towhees, carefully guarded by their voluble and agitated parents, are hard to find in their leafy home. They have heavily streaked underparts, and therefore look a good deal more like the race of sparrows, to which they belong, than do their parents.
CARDINAL
Richmondena cardinalis cardinalis (Linnæus)
Other Names.—Redbird; Virginia Cardinal or Redbird; Cardinal Grosbeak.
Description.—Smaller than Robin; both sexes with high crests and huge, pink bills. Adult male: Bright, deep rose-red, richest on breast; back, wing and tail-feathers edged with grayish; region in front of eye and on throat black; bill orange-pink; eyes brown. Female: Grayish brown above, buffy white and grayish below, the crest, wings, and tail tinged with red, noticeable especially in flight. Young male: Like the adult female, but the under-wing linings are pink and the breast is blotched with red. Length: 8 inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—An abundant permanent resident in southern and western Pennsylvania, and locally in the mountains. It is extending its range northward along the river valleys.
Nest.—A neat but rather thin cup of weed-stalks and grasses, scantily lined with rootlets and other fine materials. Eggs: 3 or 4, white, spotted and speckled with lilac and grayish.
Cardinal, Male
Both the male and female Cardinal sing a loud, whistling song which may be variously written as poo-ree, poo-ree, reap-er, reap-er, whit you, whit you, or what cheer, what cheer, many times repeated. The call-note is a metallic chirp. Cardinals are sometimes familiar door-yard birds. Since they stay the year around, a special effort should be made to feed them corn, suet, nuts, sunflower seeds, and grit during the snowy spells.
Cardinals like to nest in shadowy places, and will sometimes rear their young in shrubbery or vines which grow about our porches.
ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK
Hedymeles ludoviciana (Linnæus)
Description.—Smaller than Robin, with very large beak. Adult male: Head, neck, and upperparts black, the wings, tail, and upper tail-coverts marked with white; triangular breast-patch and under-wing linings light rose-red; rest of underparts white, streaked on sides with black; bill white or pinkish white; eyes dark brown. Adult female: Sparrow-like in appearance, being dull brown, streaked with black above, the wings marked with two whitish wing-bars, the underparts buffy, streaked with brown on breast and sides. Young males: Like the females but with rosy under-wing linings. Adult male in winter: Like adult female, but the wings and tail more or less as in the spring plumage and rosy breast-patch showing to an extent. Length: 8 inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—A somewhat local and irregular migrant throughout, and a summer resident chiefly in the central and northern counties from late April to mid-September.
Nest.—A cup made of vegetable fibers and rootlets, often so thin that the eggs show through, placed in a thick tree, in a low, damp situation, 8 to 25 feet from ground. Eggs: 3 to 6, pale blue-green, spotted with brown.
