This female cardinal is poised. She has put on fresh beakstick, applied a bit of rouge and had her stylist add just a touch of color and, those eyes, they don’t miss a thing. She finds a prominent branch in a good neighborhood with a sunny slant to show off her well-feathered figure and then, coyly, glances over a toned wing while she waits.

Meanwhile, in the second photo, the male cardinal wakes up! Now alert to her high above and thinks “he” has a great original idea. Right!