In a message dated 09/24/1999 4:56:19 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
avisys at mindspring.com writes:

<< (I'll assume this is an unusual
occurrence. ? )
>>

OH I hope it's true, and I hope it's the beginning of their becoming
established here!

Cardinals began moving north and west from the southeast early this century.
They've been steadily expanding their range. My mother who still lives in
Michigan, said that, as a girl, she'd never ever seen one, and only began to
see them in the early thirties. (my mother, as you may guess, is in her 70's.

My in laws, both of whom live in where in the hell am I Minnesota, say that
they didn't see cardinals until the late forties.

Last year someone published a photograph of a male Cardinal in a bird feeder
in Ft. Collins, CO.
And Peterson says that Cardinals were introduced into S. California.

So all in all, I'm willing to bet that the purported cardinal in Gig Harbor
is a wild one, not an escapee. (especially as it's illegal to keep indigenous
birds in captivity.)

I hope so, because I think the Cardinal is the King of the Birds.
Michelle
Littlerock, WA
MBlanchrd at aol.com