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aliens — Japanese honeysuckle, multiflora rose and Oriental bittersweet — provide food through their berries and shelter in their denseness. Their tangles supply safe nesting sites.
The Cardinal and the Mockingbird planted the seeds of these Old World plants by their droppings after the nutrients had been extracted. It was an accidental cooperative effort between the birds and tangling vines.
So, for once, perhaps man has done the right thing. The effort of the settler was unconscious and unplanned as far as the Cardinal was concerned. Those hard-working men and women just wanted sunlight for their crops. Yet, settlers did let in the light. Cardinals followed, sang their songs, and built nests.
I am grateful to my ancestors when I see a Cardinal against the rich winter green of a pine, hear the spirited, song on a March morning, and perch for a luminous moment on a snow-covered branch of a dogwood tree in the neighbor’s yard.
He is there now, as I finish this article in early January.
I can declare that I have at least made a sincere attempt to pay homage to the Virginia Red Bird.
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