86 BULLETIN 19 7, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



ture on this point, it must be studied further. The birds work very close to- 

 gether. They both come to tlie nest with their bills full of cattail down or 

 small twigs. The male deposits his on the nest and the female then follows 

 with hers. She stays and by much twisting and turning of the entire body and 

 use of the bill, the material is woven into the nest. When this is finished, she 

 calls and is joined by the male, who usually waits nearby, and tliey then fly off 

 together for more materials. 



Speaking of the return of waxwings to a former nesting locality, 

 Saunders (1911) says: 



Evidently Waxwings do not necessarily return to the same locality in which 

 they have nested before. 



It is evident that tlie presence or absence of Waxwings in a given locality is 

 due to tlie abundance or lack of a supply of the berry or fruit that forms the 

 major part of their food. A later experience in the vicinity of Bozeman, Montana, 

 confirms this. During the summer of 1908 there were no Waxwings that I ob- 

 served in the vicinity of Bozeman. The next year, however, they appeared in 

 June and were abundant throughout the summer. During this time I found 

 two Waxwing nests in shade trees along the streets of Bozeman and could 

 doubtless have found many if I had had time for search. In this region the 

 service berry (Atnelanchier alni folia) forms the principal article of food. This 

 berry was very abundant about Bozeman in 1909 and correspondingly scarce in 

 1908. During the summer of 1910, in a few short visits to Bozeman, I again 

 found Waxwins quite common and sei'vice berries fairly abundant. 



The waxwing breeds later in the season than most birds do, at a 

 time when many of the berries and fruits, which the bird uses as 

 food for its young, arc ripe. Normally it breeds in July or early 

 August, but sometimes much later. W. J. Hamilton, Jr. (1933) re- 

 ports a bird incubating four eggs on September 27 near Ithaca, N. Y. 



Eggs. — [Author's note : The cedar waxwing lays three to five eggs, 

 rarely six. These are usually ovate and have little or no gloss. They 

 closely resemble the eggs of the Bohemian waxwing, having the same 

 peculiar coloration, but they are, of course, smaller. The ground color 

 is pale bluish gray, j^ale "mineral gi'ay," or "glaucous-gray." They 

 are sparingly marked with dots or small spots of black, or blackish 

 brown, scattered more or less irregularly over the surface. Some eggs 

 show underlying spots or blotches of pale shades of drab. 



The measurements of 50 eggs in the United States National Museum 

 average 21.8 by 15.6 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes 

 measure 24.4 by 15.8, 22.4 by 16.3, 18.8 by 15.2, and 20.3 by 14.7 milli- 

 meters.] 



Young. — The length of the cedar waxwing's incubation period is 

 given by various writers as follows: Saunders (1911), 12 days; Burns 

 (1915), 10 to 12 days; Knight (1908), about 14 days; Forbush (1911), 

 about 14 days ; Crouch ( 1936) , 12 to 16 days. 



Aretas A. Saunders (1911) gives a careful description of the 

 development of young waxwings. He says : 



