9s BULLETIN 19 7, UNITED STATES NATIONAL IVIUSEUM 



low an estimate. The path of the flight also extended south of my positionat 

 the window. I cannot say how far it extended, and I can offer no estimate of 

 the number of birds which passed on that side. 



R. H. Palmer (1922) speaks of meeting the cedarbird in winter in 

 various parts of Mexico: at Tehuantepec, which is "but a hundred 

 feet or so above sea-level, is very hot, and has an abundance of irri- 

 gated tropical vegetation"; at IVIexico City, which "is at 7,600 feet 

 elevation, and has a cool climate; its vegetation is of the Oregon or 

 northern California type" ; at Monterrey, which "but a few hundred 

 feet above the sea, is very hot, and has the floral and f aunal aspect, as 

 well as the climate, of southwest Texas. All of which goes to show 

 that the Cedar Waxwing in winter shows little choice among different 

 climates and surroundings." 



Wilbur F. Smith (MS.) reports waxwings lingering in large num- 

 bers, estimated at 5,000 birds, on St. Armands Key, Fla. Under date 

 of March 26, 1943, he writes to Mr. Bent : "The flocks of waxwings 

 are still about Sarasota. They completely cleaned up the fruit of the 

 cabbage palms on the key and then moved to the mainland and fed 

 on the palm berries there. The mulberries are ripening, and the 

 birds eat these also. Today I watched a flock of several hmidreds 

 gathering the fruit from one of these trees." 



A. F. Skutch (MS.) sends to Mr. Bent the following account of the 

 waxwings in their winter quarters in Central America : 



"Tlie cedar waxwing is a regular winter visitant to Central America, 

 fairly abundant in the Guatemalan highlands, increasingly rare far- 

 ther southward and at lower elevations. It reaches its southernmost 

 known limit in Costa Rica, where it is not often seen. One of the latest 

 of the immigrants to arrive, it rarely appears before January. In my 

 two years in the Guatemalan highlands, I failed to see a single bird 

 during the closing months of the year, although during these months 

 I was constantly afield, in 1933 on the Sierra de Tecpan (7,000-10,000 

 feet), in the Department of Chimaltenango; while during the follow- 

 ing year I traveled widely, largely by horseback, over the western 

 mountains. Yet in February 1933 the birds suddenly appeared in large 

 flocks on the Sierra de Tecpan and were repeatedly seen until the fol- 

 lowing May 12. They frequently linger well into May and even in 

 Costa Rica have been recorded as late as May 7. 



"The sociable nature of the cedar waxwing is not altered by its so- 

 journ between the Tropics. The birds are almost always found in 

 flocks, containing from a dozen to perhaps 100 individuals, although 

 groups of more than 50 are in mj^ experience rare. Occasionally a lone 

 bird is seen, or two or three together. As in the more northerly parts 

 of their range, they perch close together in exposed positions well up 

 in the trees, delivering their low, far-away, lisping notes, each so slight 

 an utterance, yet so stirring in its multiplication by scores of voices. 



