Evening star., 1944-12-28
This and That
BIZ Charles +. Trucetrell.

1t won't be long now until the cardi-
nails begin to sing. That will mean that
spring is on the way. Sometime in
January this will happen.
The female cardinal Is one of the very
few lady birds with a sweet voice. She
initiates her lord very prettily, softer
and daintier, as BELTS a creature clothed
in an old-fashioned shawl
Surely even bird lovers sometimes fail
to appreciate the lady redbird, she is SO
modest living always in the red glare of
her mate.
He, brilliant fellow, with his black
mask, Is known to all the land, but his
wife must be looked for and found close
at hand, else appreciation is impossible,
her colors and actions are so quiet
The male was the favorite target of the
Colonists.
He made splendid bull's-eye in any
tree or shrub.
The long rifles Of the early settlers
brought him down by the hundred
In recent years the use of the cardinal
as a target has ceased, except in the
most outlandish places, where men and
boys have never heard of conservation.
Today the bird is widely appreciated,
often taking the name of the State in
which he is found; thus in Kentucky he
is called the Kentucky cardinal, and in
Virginia the Virginia cardinal
The spring song of this bird is so
characteristic that once heard it is
never forgotten.
1t rings from low down in a shrub,
or evergreen. Often it comes very early
in the morning, as the early riser goes
to work. 1t will ring out unheralded
from the sidelines, with it's resounding
cheer, cheer, cheer"
The call note of the species is a me-
tallic cluck, given when the bird is
alarmed, or is signaling its mate or
young
No group makes a finer picture in the
summer garden than the cardinal fam
lily. If seed and grain are kept out on
the ground, especially plenty of SUM-
flower seed, the mother bird will lead
her babies to it,
Cardinals are shy bathers.
Shy, that is, in the sense of not being
easily seen at it.
There is little doubt that they bathe
as much as most species, but they do not
DO IT openly.
They prefer mist to a static bath. so
spray of water let fall through shrub
berry is sure to attract them.
Then they may be seen fluttering
their wings among the leaves, in this way
securing a nice bath.
They seldom join the throng of bird
bathers at a pedestal BATH This has
led some of their admirers to wonder if
they bathe at ALL
Sometimes newcomers to bird watch
ing confuse the cardinal with the scar
let tanager.
Our cardinal is red, with little black
around his bill, whereas the tanager is
red with black wing and tail. And the
red is far different.
There are no tanagers here in winter.
The scarlet tanager is green in the
winter no matter where he is.
The red of the tanager is very bril-
liant, with a fiery quality which CLEANS
in the trees. 1t is a far brighter color
than the deeper red of our cardinal
Sometimes it is not realized that the
male cardinals, according to age, show
greatly different colorations. Some of
the younger ones resemble their mothers
more than their fathers.
Young male cardinals often approach
the salmon, in color, with white spots
on them here and there, and little
green.
Cardinals destroy thousands of in
sects yearly and are among the best Of
all birds as garden helpers.