58 Bird -Lore 



In late summer and early fall, the Waxwing imitates a Flycatcher, and, 

 taking its post on some tall tree, usually near a pond or river, launches out 

 over water or meadow in pursuit of flying insects. Birds taken at such times 

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

 crickets, crane flies, lace-win, s, 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 Russian, the Charles Downing and the New American. 



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

 General Hehits Waxwing is good-natured, happy, tender-hearted, affectionate 

 and blessed with a good disposition. It is fond of good company. 

 When the nesting-season is past, each harmonious 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, alight- 

 ing 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 disposition 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 i, 1866, in Watertown, Mass., he saw the 

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

 station 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 rela- 

 tives and companions. 



Large numbers of this lovely bird are shot by fruit-growers and also by 

 alien hunters, who kiU them on the wild cherry trees in August. Formerly 

 many were shot for food in the North, and they are still taken for this purpose 

 in the South. While they are occasionally a nuisance to the small-fruit grower, 

 they well deserve protection for their beauty and for their utility to the gen- 

 eral farmer. 



