American Red Birds are among our most common cage birds, and are very
generally known in Europe, numbers of them having been carried over both
to France and England. Their notes are varied and musical; many of them
resembling the high notes of a fife, and are nearly as loud. They are in
song from March to September, beginning at the first appearance of dawn
and repeating successively twenty or thirty times, and with little
intermission, a favorite strain.
The sprightly figure and gaudy plumage of the Red Bird, his vivacity,
strength of voice, and actual variety of note, and the little expense
with which he is kept, will always make him a favorite.
This species is more numerous to the east of the great range of the
Alleghenies, but is found in Pennsylvania and Ohio, and is numerous in
the lower parts of the Southern States. In January and February they
have been found along the roadsides and fences, hovering together in
half dozens, associating with snow birds, and various kinds of sparrows.
In the northern states they are migratory, and in the southern part of
Pennsylvania they reside during the whole year, frequenting the borders
of rivulets, in sheltered hollows, covered with holly, laurel, and other
evergreens. They love also to reside in the vicinity of fields of Indian
corn, a grain that constitutes their chief and favorite food. The seeds
of apples, cherries, and other fruit are also eaten by them, and they
are accused of destroying bees.
Early in May the Red Bird begins to prepare his nest, which is very
often fixed in a holly, cedar or laurel bush. A pair of Red Birds in
Ohio returned for a number of years to build their nest in a honeysuckle
vine under a portico. They were never disturbed and never failed to rear
a brood of young. The nest was constructed of small twigs, dry weeds,
slips of vine bark, and lined with stalks of fine grass. Four eggs of
brownish olive were laid, and they usually raised two broods in a
season.
In confinement they fade in color, but if well cared for, will live to
a considerable age. They are generally known by the names: Red Bird,
Virginia Red Bird, Virginia Nightingale, and Crested Red Bird. It is
said that the female often sings nearly as well as the male.