BIRDS OF MANY FAMILIES 203 



faint }'cllow underneath. A rich black line runs 

 through the eye back to the prominent crest. 

 I'he tail has a terminal band of handsome yel- 

 low; on the wing is a dash of bright red like 

 scaling wax, and the chin and forehead are 

 black. The female has much the same colors 

 but more subdued, and the crest is smaller. 

 These birds are about seven inches in length. 



The Waxwing's manners are what one would 

 expect in a bird so tastefully dressed. They 

 seem to be always courteous and amiable, re- 

 fined and undemonstrative in their ways. They 

 are strangely silent; but a single note have I 

 ever heard them utter, a faint lisping 'Useep,^^ 

 which is sometimes likened to beads strung on a 

 string. When one approaches their nest there 

 is no protest. The mother bird stares at you 

 with steady eye until you can almost reach her, 

 then slips away without a sound. The nest, 

 which I usually find in the orchard or in the 

 alders on the river bank, is a flat, shallow struc- 

 ture of sticks, moss, grass, bark, leaves, etc. 

 The dull, bluish-gray eggs are spotted irregu- 

 larly with dark brown. They range over eastern 

 North America, in summer as far north as Lab- 

 rador. Some winter in New England and New 

 York, others wander as far south as Central 

 America. 



The Bohemian Waxwing has a more northern 

 range and is rather rare in the United States. 

 Occasionally they wander as far south as New 

 York City. They are somewhat larger than 

 their cousins, but in dress, habits and notes are 

 similar. 



