Coccothraustes virginiana, Brisson, Orn. III, 1760, 253. Loxia cardinalis, Linn. Syst. I, 1766, 300.—Wilson, Am. Orn. II, 1810, 38, pl. vi, f. 1, 2. Coccothraustes cardinalis, Vieill. Dict. Fringilla (Coccothraustes) cardinalis, Bon. Obs. Wils. 1825, No. 79. Fringilla cardinalis, Nutt. Man. I, 1832, 519.—Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 336; V, 514, pl. clix. Pitylus cardinalis, Aud. Syn. 1839, 131.—Ib. Birds Am. III, 1841, 198, pl. cciii. Cardinalis virginianus, Bon. List, 1838.—Ib. Consp. 1850, 501.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 509.—Max. Cab. J. VI, 1858, 268. Grosbec de Virginie, Buff. Pl. enl. 37.
Cardinalis virginianus.
Sp. Char. A flattened crest of feathers on the crown. Bill red. Body generally bright vermilion-red, darker on the back, rump, and tail. The feathers of the back and rump bordered with brownish-gray. Narrow band around the base of the bill, extending to eyes, with chin and upper part of the throat black.
Female of a duller red, and this only on the wings, tail, and elongated feathers of the crown. Above light olive; tinged with yellowish on the head; beneath brownish-yellow, darkest on the sides and across the breast. Black about the head only faintly indicated. Length, 8.50; wing, 4.00; tail, 4.50; culmen, .75; depth of bill, .58; breadth of upper mandible, .35. (28,286 ♂, Mount Carmel, Southern Illinois.)
Hab. More southern portions of United States to the Missouri. Probably along valley of Rio Grande to Rocky Mountains.
The bill of this species is very large, and shaped much as in Hedymeles ludovicianus. The central feathers of the crest of the crown are longer than the lateral; they spring from about the middle of the crown, and extend back about an inch and a half from the base of the bill. The wings are much rounded, the fourth longest, the second equal to the seventh, the first as long as the secondaries. The tail is long, truncate at the end, but graduated on the sides; the feathers are broad to the end, truncated obliquely at the end.
Most North American specimens we have seen have the feathers of the back edged with ashy; the more northern the less brightly colored, and larger. Mexican skins (var. coccineus) are deeper colored and without the olivaceous. In all specimens from eastern North America the frontal black is very distinct.
Specimens from the Eastern Province of United States, including Florida and the Bermudas, are all alike in possessing those features distinguishing the restricted var. virginianus from the races of Mexico, namely, the wide black frontal band, and distinct gray edges to dorsal feathers, with small bill. Specimens from Florida are scarcely smaller, and are not more deeply colored than some examples from Southern Illinois. Rio Grande skins, however, are slightly less in size, though identical in other respects.
Habits. The Cardinal Grosbeak, the Redbird of the Southern States, is one of our few birds that present the double attraction of a brilliant and showy plumage with more than usual powers of song. In New England and the more northern States it is chiefly known by its reputation as a cage-bird, both its bright plumage and its sweet song giving it a high value. It is a very rare and only an accidental visitor of Massachusetts, though a pair was once known to spend the summer and to rear its brood in the Botanical Gardens of Harvard College in Cambridge. It is by no means a common bird even in Pennsylvania. In all the Southern States, from Virginia to Mexico, it is a well-known favorite, frequenting gardens and plantations, and even breeding within the limits of the larger towns and cities. A single specimen of this bird was obtained near Dueñas, Guatemala, by Mr. Salvin.