The males return some days previous to their female companions; shortly after their re-appearance the pairing season commences, and is always inaugurated by violent disputes and battles between the males, who chase each other from place to place with bitter animosity, and then return to pour forth a song of triumph in the ear of their mates, to whom they are most tenderly attached; bushes or trees in the vicinity of a river or farmyard are the localities generally preferred for building purposes, and the nest is frequently placed within a few yards of that of a Mocking-bird. In the Northern States the female lays but once during the year, but further south three broods are by no means unusual, each consisting of from four to six eggs of a dirty white colour, marked with olive brown. The food of the Cardinal consists of corn, seed, and various berries; during spring it devours the berries of the sugar-maple in large quantities, and in summer wages continual war against beetles, butterflies, and caterpillars, committing great depredations in the gardens, attacking the fruit and destroying the bees. American naturalists are loud in their praises of the song of this bird, to which they give the name of "the Virginian Nightingale," asserting that its notes are fully equal to those of its European namesake, both in purity and variety of tone. Audubon describes its song as resembling the sound of a flageolet, commencing in a loud clear key, and gradually sinking until scarcely audible. It is during the breeding season that these notes are heard in their greatest perfection, the little songster appearing to feel the full beauty of its own performance, as it inflates its breast, spreads its tail, and opens its wings, turning from right to left as though to attract attention to the wonderful sounds it is producing. Again and again these strains are renewed, the pretty vocalist only pausing from sheer exhaustion, sometimes continuing its song almost without intermission from sunrise to sunset, occasionally accompanied by the less pretentious effort of its mate. European naturalists are by no means so enthusiastic in their notices of this bird, and pronounce its song to be more striking than beautiful. The Cardinal is easily reared in captivity, but it is so quarrelsome as to be dangerous to any companions confined in the same cage. THE DOMINICAN FINCH.