202 BIRDS OF FIELD, FOREST AND PARK 



gray color. The wings and tail are speckled with 

 white, the throat and sides of the neck are 

 white, and there is a spot of white in front of 

 the eye. With the female the band on the 

 breast and the sides are brownish. The King- 

 fisher is more than a foot long and rather thick- 

 set. They have a wide summer range, from the 

 Gulf States to Labrador, and winter from Vir- 

 ginia to the tropics. 



Cedar Waxwing. These birds are veritable 

 nomads. So strong in them is the love for the 

 life of a rover that they postpone the nesting 

 until summer is well advanced, and no sooner 

 are the young able to fly freely, than they again 

 take up their wanderings. Even in late August 

 I have found their nests with eggs unhatched. 

 This means that the young are scarcely full 

 grown before the return of Jack Frost. During 

 at least ten months of the year they roam over 

 a wide range of country in small bands, seeking 

 a food supply which varies much with the 

 seasons. During the cold months they feed 

 upon cedar berries; later they develop a taste 

 for cherries, and at times the berry patches are 

 the center of their activities. Besides, they are 

 expert flycatchers, and at nesting time insects 

 form a large part of their food. 



Both in manner and dress the Cedar Wax- 

 wing is one of our most refined birds. The deli- 

 cate coloring of their plumage, to my sense, is 

 not surpassed in attractiveness in the whole 

 bird wprld. It has been compared to the ex- 

 quisite tints of a Japanese water color. The 

 upper parts are brownish-gray, shading into a 



