CEDAR WAXWING. I 57 



on, it would appear that this species is very proUfic, and must 

 have at least two hatches in the season ; for as late as the 7th 

 of September a brood, in this vicinity, were yet in the nest. 

 The period of sitting is about 15 or 16 days ; and while the 

 young are still helpless, it is surprising to witness the silence of 

 the parents, uttering no cries, nor making any approaches to 

 those who may endanger or jeopard the safety of their brood ; 

 still, they are flying round, and silently watching the dreaded 

 result, and approach the nest the moment the intruder disap- 

 pears. They feed the young, at first, with insects and smooth 

 caterpillars ; but at the end of the 3d or 4th day they are fed, 

 like the old ones, almost exclusively on sweet and juicy fruits, 

 such as whortle and service berries, wild and cultivated cher- 

 ries, etc. A young bird from one of the nests described, in the 

 hemlock, was thrown upon my protection, having been by 

 some means ejected from his cradle. In this critical situation, 

 however, he had been well fed, or rather gorged, with berries, 

 and was merely scratched by the fall he had received. Fed on 

 cherries and mulberries, he was soon well fledged, while his 

 mate in the nest was suffered to perish by the forgetfulness of 

 his natural protectors. Coeval with the growth of his wing- 

 feathers were already seen the remarkable red waxen append- 

 ages, showing that their appearance indicates no particular age 

 or sex; many birds, in fact, being without these ornaments 

 during their whole lives. I soon found my interesting protege 

 impatient of the cage and extremely voracious, gorging him- 

 self to the very mouth with the soft fruits on which he was 

 often fed. The throat, in fact, like a craw, admits of distention, 

 and the contents are only gradually passed off into the stomach. 

 I now suffered the bird to fly at large, and for several days he 

 descended from the trees, in which he perched, to my arm for 

 food ; but the moment he was satisfied, he avoided the cage, 

 and appeared unable to suivive the loss of liberty. He now 

 came seldomer to me, and finally joined the lisping muster-cry 

 of tze tze tze, and was enticed away by more attractive associates. 

 When young, nature provided him with a loud, impatient voice, 

 and te-did, tc-did, kai-tcdld (often also the clamorous cry of 



