Breeding schedule.—Eleven records of egg-laying cover the period May 21 to July 20; the modal date for laying is June 5.
Number of eggs.—Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.
Nests are situated ten to 20 feet high on horizontal limbs of large trees.
Cardinal: Richmondena cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus).—This species is a common resident in eastern Kansas, west to about the 99th meridian; west of this line the species becomes local and uncommon to rare. Habitat in the east is found in woodland, edge, second-growth and open riparian timber, and in the west the species is restricted to riparian growths, chiefly along the Republican, Solomon, Smoky Hill, Arkansas, and Cimarron rivers, and their larger tributaries.
Breeding schedule.—The 117 records of breeding span the period April 1 to September 20 ([Fig. 8]); the modal date for laying of first clutches is May 1, subsequent to which breeding activity is regular but asynchronous.
Number of eggs.—Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.5, 3-6; 65). Seasonal variation in clutch-size is as follows:
| Date | Mean clutch-size | Number of records |
| April 1-20 | 3.0 | 6 |
| April 21-May 10 | 3.8 | 25 |
| May 11-May 31 | 3.3 | 15 |
| June 1-June 20 | 3.6 | 11 |
| June 21-July 20 | 3.3 | 7 |
Nests are placed about five feet high (ranging from 10 inches to 40 feet) in osage orange, elm, grape, rose, red cedar, coralberry, willow, cottonwood, gooseberry, oak, elderberry, box elder, arbor vitae, Lombardy poplar, Forsythia, pines, honeysuckle, wisteria, lilac, red haw, hickory, dogwood, and sycamore.
Rose-breasted Grosbeak: Pheucticus ludovicianus (Linnaeus).—This is a local and at times common summer resident in eastern Kansas, in woodland, edge, and riparian timber. Specimens taken in the breeding season and actual records of breeding come from Clay, Riley, Doniphan, Leavenworth, and Douglas counties. This species meets and hybridizes with the Black-headed Grosbeak west of the Flint Hills. Temporal occurrence in the State is indicated in [Table 19].
Breeding schedule.—Eleven records of breeding span the period May 11 to July 10; the modal date for laying is probably June 5.