246 OMNIVOROUS BIRDS. 



Family. — SERIC ATI. 



Not strictly omnivorous. Gregarious and sociable. Voice weak 

 and lisping, just audible. 



WAXEN CHATTERERS. (Bombycilla. Brisson.) 



The BILL short, straight, and elevated : the upper mandible slightly 

 curved towards its extremity, and provided with a strongly marked 

 tooth. Nostrils at the base of the bill, oval, open, hidden by stiff 

 hairs directed forwards ; the tongue cartilaginous, broad at the tip 

 and lacerated. The feet with 3 toes directed forward and one back- 

 ward, the exterior united to the middle toe. Wings moderate ; the 

 1st and 2d primaries longest ; the spurious feather very short. 



The sexes are alike, and both crested; some of the tips of the se- 

 condaries are terminated by small, red, oblong appendages, like seal- 

 ino'-wax. The plumage close, soft, and silky. They moult annually j- 

 live in numerous flocks ; and are given to wandering at all seasons, 

 except the mere time necessary for incubation. In disposition they 

 are simple, and readily tamed, but do not long survive confinement. 

 They feed chiefly on juicy fruits, and small larvse or caterpillars ; 

 building in trees, and often laying twice a year ; the eggs about 5. 

 The genus composed of only 3 species, one peculiarly American, the 

 2d common to Europe, Asia, and America, and the 3d in Japan. 



WAXEN CHATTERER. 



(Bomhycilla garrula, Vieill. Bonap. Am. Orn. iii. pi. 16. fig. 2. 

 Avipclis garrulus, Lin.) 



Sp. Charact. — Brownish grey; head, except the posterior part of 

 the crest, chestnut ; chin, frontlet, and line partly surrounding the 

 eye, black ; belly cinereous ; vent chestnut color ; wings with two 

 series of white marks. 



The Wax-Wing, hitherto in America, seen only in 

 the vicinity of the Athabasca river, near the region of the 



