New Britain herald., 1917-12-18
THE CARDINAL CARDINAL.
Cheeriest of Birds, His Cheerfulness
 by His Comrade, Chiclkadee.

Cleveland Plain O6a1eT)
 Cardinals Cardinals the scientists name him-as one might say the cardinal cardinal" He is, indeed. the reddest of birds, and the emphasis of redundancy is not reprehensible.
 The bravery of his raiment truly reflects his song and his manner. Most bird songs seem to declare some human mood, and the cardinals Is sheer, wanton cheerfulness. In this quality he is uneQualled- Chickadee, his comrade in the winter forest, is quite as jocund and pert and far more confiding. but when chickadee comes to sing his summer song it is a plain tive, timid arietta~ Vireo, robin, meadowlark, goldf1nch, bobolink and many others possess the valuable quality of musical cheerfulness. But not one of them has the aggressive. indomitable joyousness of the car dinal. Not alone the cardinals voice. but also his bravely flaming crest and big bright eyes and general cocksure attitude indicate his complacent as- sumption that whatever is, is right.
 There are a dozen or a score Of diff ferent songs of the cardinal. The melodies and phrasings vary widely. It is sometimes difficult to believe
 
 the same individual, can offer so di- verse a performance. Yet the car dinal quality is unmistakable. There is always the clear, penetrating whis- tie. There is invariably the expression of full contentment and the demand for joviality. Sometimes dog is fooled by the 6nticing whistle and runs wildly in search of it's source. Again, the call seems aimed directly at the human What cheer? What cheer?" Or it may be affirmative and very emphatic. ad- dressed to all the universe, g. broad and arrogant assertion of the excel lence of everything.
 The brightest co1ored and seeming ly most exotic of birds is no fair weather friend. In the rich perfec- ton of June and in the heaviness of the breathless dog days he is ever whistling in the leafy depths. But in winter, too, he is with us; usually in- audible now, but more visible than ever. his raiment showing more won drous against the whiteness of the snow. A feeding shelf in a suburban will almost certainly attract a select company of redbirds. Mrs. Redbird will come, too, and though
 
 is scarcely less notable than the lord 1y one. She Is all soft grays and ten- der ochraceous buffs, edged and trimmed with vermillion and crested as progressively as her mate. There are few handsomer birds, and at the feeding shelf the lady is 8 highly de- sirable guest.
 Only for brief time is the jocund whistle stilled. Only during the deadest months does the cardinal be- come a silent grubbing brother of the jays and the downies and the nut matches. Even in December and January an exceptionally fine day may win a modicum of his vocal approba- l ton. When February comes the car | dinal optimist has his throat primed l and his song ready. There dawns a ! bright sunny day, one of February'S crisp best, and over the white pas l lures is borne the first real music of | natures awakening. The bare woods l may not have felt the touch of life, | but the cardinal has felt it. His l whistle is quite as confident and al- most as melodious as his June-tide ec- stacy, Before the coming of the blue bird, that highly honored and rightly honored annual pioneer, the song of the cardinal has swept far through the cold stiffness, has filled the for ests and poured out across the mea- lows, the first greeting to the yet dis tant spring. Before any other living thing, bird or bud or hyla, the red in the tree tops has sensed he turning of the world.
 For this first welcome we should cherish the cardinal. We should ,herish him for his summer gayety of plume and song and his merry assert veness. And now when days are dark md short we should make much of nin, for his midwinter courage, his optimism, his lesson of faith and steadfastness.