76 

 WAXWINGS. 



Descriptio7i. 



BOHEMIAN WAXWING. 



Forehead, chin and line throug-h eye velvety black; a conspicuous crest; front 

 of crown chestnut brown ; upper parts rich grayish brown ; upper tail coverts, wings 

 and tail grayish ; primary coverts and secondaries tipped with white, the latter with 

 narrow red, sealing-wax like tips (sometimes wanting) ; all but the outer primaries 

 tipped with yellow or white on the outer web; tail broadly tipped with yellow; 

 breast grayish brown; under tail coverts, rich chestnut. 



L., 8.00; W., 4.60; T., 2.60. 



Nest, in trees. Eggs, pale blue, spotted and marked with purplish brown or 

 black. 



CEDAE WAXWING. 



Forehead, chin and line through the eye velvety black, bordered on the fore- 

 head with white ; a conspicuous crest ; upper parts rich grayish brown ; upper tail 

 coverts, wings and tail gray; secondaries and sometimes tail with small narrow, 

 red sealing wax like, tips (these may be entirely absent) ; tail tipped with yellow; 

 breast grayish brown, yellowish below : under tail coverts white. 



L., 7.25; W., 2.50; T., 2.40. 



Nest, in a low tree. Eggs, four or five, pale blue, spotted and marked with 

 purplish brown or black. 



FLYCATCHERS. 



These birds, as their name implies, subsist largely upon winged insects, which 

 they capture by darting upon them from some elevated post overlooking an open 

 space frequented by their prey. We have eight species, of which the Crested Fly- 

 catcher, the Kingbird, the Phoebe bird, the Wood Peewee, and the Least Flycatcher 

 are summer residents, and the Olive-sided, Yellow-bellied, and Traill's Flycatcher 

 are transient visitors, passing through southern Ontario in their spring and fall 

 migrations, and breeding in the interior. 



The Kingbird is probably the most obtrusive creature of the whole feathered 

 tribe in Canada. As soon as a pair take possession of a tree in an orchard they 

 immediately proclaim the fact to the neighborhood, and then trouble befalls every- 

 thing wearing feathers that ventures to trespass on what they are pleased to con- 

 sider their domain. Crows, Hawks, Jays, and Blackbirds are their especial detesta- 

 tion, and should one of these birds appear near their tree, an attack by the King- 

 birds immediately follows, the assault being kept up until the intruder is igno- 

 miniously driven off, having lost a few feathers in the encounter, the loss serving 

 to remind him that others have rights which he is bound to respect. The Kingbird 

 captures a vast number of mature insects, both in the air and on the ground, and 

 as at least half these insects would produce eggs to become caterpillars the service 

 rendered is very great. In the early spring, when driven by hunger, the Kingbird 

 will eat the berries of the sumach, but as the clusters of these berries form a favorite 

 hibernating place for many beetles, it is quite possible that the insects form the 

 attraction and not the fruit. They will also take a few June berries when ripe, but 

 so far I have never known them to touch cultivated fruit of any kind. 



