Fun facts about cardinals, in case anyone is taking an exam in the near future:
(1) Cardinals are so named for their distinctive coloring, red like the robes of the Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church, viva la Vatican;
(2) Ornithology is from the greek 'ornis', which means birds, and 'logos', which means explanation -- it is, therefore, an explanation of birds;
(3) Bird-watching is also called birding, and while ornithology is the official study of birds using formal scientific methods, birding is largely for recreational and social purposes;
(4) The cardinal is also thought to be colored red because of its romantic nature, with its chivalrous and old-fashioned courtship methods;
(5) The male cardinal will, during courtship, collect food for the female and actually feed the female himself, often times beak-to-beak in intimate, romantic bonding sessions that occur with great regularity;
(6) Once mated, the beak-to-beak only happens a couple times a month, if the male is lucky;
(7) The cardinal is a noted songbird, with mated male and female singing back and forth in clear whistled patterns, but also quite prideful and jealous as the songs are additionally used to aggressively defend territory and to chase off other males;
(8) Cardinals have resulted in significant losses in the Swami Pool this season, more losses, in fact, than any other team in the league;
(9) There is no rule against picking the Monday Night Football game, but it is a pain in the proverbial tail feathers to have to wait through the weekend and into the following week;
(10) Swami and his clan* will roll with the Cardinals on Monday Night, and will sing a song of their own alongside Faith Hill, set to a tune by Hank Williams, Jr.
That is all.
*Except Darth, who has already tried them, and will instead ride a Ta-Tonka to victory over the Kneeling Kaepernicks.
