143 

 BIRDS OF SILENCE 

 Cedar Waxwing 



Cedar Birds or "Cherry Birds" as they are very often 

 called^ unfortunately are connoiseurs of fine fruit, particu- 

 larly of the various kinds of cultivated and wild cherries. 

 Unfortunately, too, owners of such trees seldom take any 

 interest in birds except to regard as undesirable all that 

 sometimes steal their fruit. There is no question but what 

 the birds do considerable damage to the cherry crop, con- 

 sequently it is difficult to reason the farmer out of his 

 habit of setting his hired boy to guarding the trees with a 

 shot gun. Cherries last but a short time and, during the re- 

 mainder of the year, Cedarbirds eat quantities of insects 

 especially canker worms that are so destructive to orchards. 



Except during the nesting season they go about in flocks 

 of from six to twenty individuals. The most marked pecu- 

 liarity about them is their silence. A flock of fifteen or 

 twenty may perch in a wild cherry tree by the hour and not 

 a sound will indicate their presence unless it be the occa- 

 sional dropping of a cherry. Their only call is a nasal 

 hissing or whistling audible for but a short distance. 



They remain in flocks until the nesting season, which 

 commences the latter part of June. Even then they often 

 congregate in their favorite cherry trees, but they come and 

 go as individuals. 



Their nests are constructed of weeds, grasses, rootlets 

 and moss, skilfully woven together and lined with fine 

 grasses. Although nearly as large as robin nests they are 

 not nearly as easily seen for they are usually cunningly con- 

 cealed in clusters of leaves. Orchard trees furnish their 

 most frequently chosen nesting sites. 



On the fifteenth day of one June, a Cedar Waxwing was 

 observed gathered web from a caterpillar nest. This was 

 carried to an old, lone apple tree standing near the wall in 

 a large field. No investigation was made at the time, but 



