been found crammed with insects to the very throat. Grasshoppers, crickets, crane 

 flies, lace-wings, butterflies, moths, bugs, bark-lice and scale-lice all form part of 

 their bill-of-fare, with occasionally a few snails. They seem to do little injury 

 to cultivated fruit except to the cherry crop, and most of this usually may be 

 avoided by planting a goodly number of early mulberry trees when planting 

 cherries. In my own orchard, the mulberries attracted almost all birds away 

 from the cherries. The best varieties of mulberries to plant are the Early Rus- 

 sion, the Charles Downing and the New American. 



Like some other plump and well-fed personages, the Cedar Waxwing is 

 good-natured, happy, tender-hearted, affectionate and blessed with a good dispo- 

 sition. It is fond of good company. When the nesting-season is past, each har- 

 monious little family joins with others until the flock may number from thirty 

 to sixty individuals. They fly in close order, and keep well together through the 

 winter and spring until the nesting-season again arrives. Their manner of flight 

 is rarely surpassed. Often they suddenly wheel as if at command and plunge 

 swiftly downward, alighting in a compact band on the top of some leafless tree. 

 They roam over the country like the Passenger Pigeon, never stopping long 

 except where food is abundant. When hunting for caterpillars in the trees, they 

 sometimes climb about like little Parrots. They often show their affectionate dis- 

 position by "billing," and by dressing one another's plumage as they sit in a row. 



The fly-catching habit of these birds is sometimes exercised even in winter. 

 Mr. Brewster notes that on March 1, 1866, in Watertown, Mass., he saw the 

 members of a large flock engaged in catching snow-flakes. They took their sta- 

 tion on the branches of a tall elm from which they launched forth in quick 

 succession and snapped up the whirling flakes. The Waxwing lives a wandering 

 Bohemian life, intent on satisfying its healthy appetite ; and, this done, seems to 

 be lost in admiration of the beauties and graces of its relatives and companion's. 



In August, when all the other birds except the goldfinch and an occasional 

 robin with its second brood have cast out their young to make shift for them- 

 selves, the Cedar Waxwing is busy caring for its brood. A little later and the 

 Waxwings have gathered in loose flocks to make quick-winging marches, stopping 

 only long enough here and there to forage liberally on the country. 



Some folk call the Waxwing the cherry bird, a name which hurts its general 

 reputation for fair dealing with man. The Waxwing occasionally eats cherries, 

 but the main courses of its breakfast, dinner and supper are the insects which if 

 unchecked in the multiplying of species would make not only cherries alone but 

 all of man's delectable fruits impossible. Therefore, call the Waxwing a Wax- 

 wing and let the other name be a thing of the bygones. 



In the suburbs of Chicago the Waxwings are fairly abundant birds. They 

 are nature's most perfectly groomed children. They can turn their backs to the 

 worst prairie storm which blows and never ruffle a feather. They perch upright 

 on a twig like soldiers, shoulders back, heads up, with topknots like helmets of 



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