BIRDS OF THE CAMBRIDGE REGION. 



309 



I have known them to be uttered by a single Waxwing that had just left a feed- 

 ing flock and was circling rather high in air, over a field, performing what looked 

 like a song flight. I suspect, however, that these swallow-like calls represent 

 cries of alarm or of apprehension, rather than song notes, for sounds very like 

 them are often made by wounded Wa.xwings. 



Cedar Waxwings still breed — although much less numerously and generally 

 than formerly — throughout the more thinly settled portions of the Cambridge 

 Region, usually in old apple orchards, in pastures grown up to tall red cedars, 

 and in scattered groves or clusters of pitch pines. During the period covered by 

 my recollection they have never been very common in summer (except at the 

 season of ripening cherries) in densely populated parts of Cambridge. I have 

 known them to breed there, however, even within recent years. In the autumn 

 of 1899, after the leaves had fallen, Mr. Julian Burroughs found a nest built in 

 the fork of a maple on Riedesel Avenue within a few rods of our house. A 

 Waxwing, dried to a mummy by long exposure to sun and wind, was hanging 

 beneath the fork, suspended by a piece of twine in which the unfortunate bird 

 had become entangled, evidently during the preceding summer and probably 

 while engaged in putting the finishing touches to its nest. 



186. Lanius borealis Vieill. 

 Northern Shrike. Butcher-bird. 



Common winter resident. 



SEASONAL OCCURRENCE. 



October 21, 1892, one seen, Lexington, W. Fa.xon. 



November i — April i. 

 April 10, 1901, one seen, Cambridge, W. Deane. 



Like most predatory creatures the Northern Shrike is given to ranging 

 widely and to leading a solitary life. In autumn and winter it is seldom found 

 associating with other individuals of its own kind, although I have occasionally 

 seen two or three birds together, and Mr. M. Abbott Frazar once met with eight 

 hunting in company in Waltham. The species is always present in the Cam- 

 bridge Region from November to April, but in numbers which vary greatly dur- 

 ing different years and, to a less degree, during different months of the same 

 year. A diligent observer may see as many as ten or a dozen different birds in 

 the course of a single winter, but oftener only two or three will be noted. As a 



