. The American natural history : a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America . Natural history. 198 ORDERS OF BIRDS—PERCHERS AND SINGERS interlopers are killed off, the better for all other birds. They can be made to serve well as sub- jects for dissection in the school-room, and for amateur taxidermists; and they make excellent food for captive hawks, owls, small carnivores, and live snakes of several species. The introduction of this bird may well serve as a solemn warning against any further med- dlings with Nature on that line. In the first place, there never ex
. The American natural history : a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America . Natural history. 198 ORDERS OF BIRDS—PERCHERS AND SINGERS interlopers are killed off, the better for all other birds. They can be made to serve well as sub- jects for dissection in the school-room, and for amateur taxidermists; and they make excellent food for captive hawks, owls, small carnivores, and live snakes of several species. The introduction of this bird may well serve as a solemn warning against any further med- dlings with Nature on that line. In the first place, there never existed the slightest reason. CARDINAL. or need for this importation. Without serious consideration, or consultation with the persons most competent to advise, this bird was im- ported and planted in twelve widely separated localities in the United States. To-day it is a feathered nuisance that spreads over one-half the United States, and excepting locally cannot be abated. Nevertheless, it is within the power of western towns and cities wherein it has not yet gained a foothold to follow the example of Mr. Bond in Cheyenne, and destroy every colony that enters before it has time to breed. The Cardinal, or Cardinal Grosbeak,1 also called the Cardinal Redbird, is the pride of the South. From New Orleans to New York it is persistently trapped and "limed,"—not to "keep" as a cage-bird, but to sell as such. Poor, unhappy Cardinal! How much better its fate 1 Car-di-nal'is car-di-nal'is. Length, inches. had it been created black instead of bright cardi- nal red, with no jaunty top-knot, and no fatal gift of song! In a cage 6 by 9 feet, or even 4 by 4, a bird like this flies to and fro, and in company with a dozen other small birds finds life far from dull. But if you put a wild song-bird in a cage barely large enough for a canary, the bird is wretched, it dies soon, and the keeping of it is a sin against Nat- ure. Excepting canaries and a very few other spec
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