CEDAR WAXWING. 107 



There are, I believe, but three species of this 

 genus known to naturalists : The Cedar Wax- 

 wing, the subject of this description ; the Bohe- 

 mian, or European Chatterer, which was first dis- 

 covered in this country on the Rocky Mountains, 

 and it is said, has been since seen a little beyond 

 the Mississippi, and another species, found in East- 

 ern Asia. They have all the fine silky plumage; 

 and the first two, those remarkable oblong append- 

 ages at the end of the wing and tail feathers, re- 

 sembling red sealing wax, hence their name of 

 Waxwing. There are, I believe, none of them mu- 

 sical, at least this, the Cedar Waxwing, is not, 

 for it is almost a mute, having nothing but a 

 single chirp not much louder than a mouse ; 

 and how they got the name of Chatterers, is a 

 mystery to naturalists. They are voracious birds 

 and great eaters, and this the farmer and gar- 

 dener sometimes know to their cost, for they are 

 very fond of ripe cherries, and are good judges of 

 them, and generally select the best. But they 

 are entitled to a moiety of the fruit for their pro- 

 tection of the trees, for they devour an enormous 

 number of insects. I have seen these birds on 

 an apple tree continue for hours, eating canker 

 worms without intermission. They are, there- 

 fore, of incalculable benefit to the agriculturist, 



