388 WAXWINGS AND PHAINOPEPLAS 



minute ; inner quills generally, and tail feathers sometimes, tipped with 

 red horny appendages like sealing wax ; tail short ; feet rather weak ; 

 tarsus shorter than middle toe and claw. 



KEY TO ADULTS. 



1. Forehead and cheeks dark brown in contrast to crest. 



garrulus, p. 388. 

 r. Forehead and cheeks fawn color like crest . . . cedrorum, p. ?)88. 



618. Ampelis garrulus Lmn. Bohemian Waxwing. 



Adults. — Whole body, including high crest, soft fawn color, fading to 

 grayish on rump and flanks, and washed with yellowish on middle of 

 belly ; forehead, cheeks, and under tail coverts deep brown ; chin, lores, 

 and eye streak extending back under crest, velvety black ; wings and tail 

 blackish, wing coverts extensively tipped with whitish or yellow, the ter- 

 tials sometimes with red wax-like appendages ; tail with a terminal band 

 of yellow. Young : duller ; under parts streaked. Length : 7.40-8.7o, 

 wing 4.40-4.60, tail 2.75-2.90. 



Distribution. — Northern parts of northern hemisphere ; breeds in north- 

 ern North America to Fort Churchill. Hudson Bay ; migrates into the 

 United States as far as Pennsylvania, Illinois, Colorado, and California. 



Nest. — In trees, 6 to 20 feet from the ground, bulky, made of twigs, 

 rootlets, leaves, grass stems, and sometimes lichens and mosses ; lined with 

 rootlets, grasses, and feathers. Eggs : 3 to 5, bluish white to purplish 

 gray, spotted with lilac and dark brown, most thickly about the larger 

 end. 



Food. — Insects, fruits, and berries, including juniper and mountain ash 

 berries. 



The Bohemian waxwing, though an irregular wanderer from the 

 north, is not uncommon in the mountains of Colorado in winter, 

 going as high as 8000 feet. It comes in November and leaves in 

 February or March. 



619. Ampelis cedrorum (Vieill.). Cedar Waxwing. 



Adults. — Streak through eye velvety black ; crest, head, and under 

 parts fawn color, fading to olive yellow on flanks ; upper parts olive gray 

 becoming blackish on wing quills and tail ; tail tipped with yellow and 

 both wing and tail sometimes tipped with red wax-like appendages. Young : 

 similar, but duller, and under parts strongly, upper parts lightly, streaked. 

 Length : ().50-7.50, wing 3.60-3.90. tail 2.30-2.(50. 



Remarks. — The Cedar waxwing differs from the Bohemian in being 

 smaller, and in lacking the dark brown of f oi*ehead, cheeks, and under tail 

 coverts, and the yellow and white wing markings. 



Distribution. — Breeds mainly in Transition and Upper Sonoran zones of 

 North America, from Saskatchewan south to Virginia, western North 

 Carolina, and the mountains of New Mexico and Arizona ; winters from 

 the northern border of the United States to the West Indies and Costa Rica. 



Nest. — In bushes or low trees, a deep, bulky structure, made of twigs, 

 weed stems, grasses, and vegetable fibers, lined with leaves and fine 

 rootlets. JEggs . usually 4, bluish or purplish gray, spotted with brown or 

 black. 



Food. — Insects, including elm-leaf beetles and bark or scale lice, with 

 seeds or berries of trees, such as pepper, juniper, mulberry, and mistletoe. 



