THE


AVICULTURAL MAGAZINE


BEING THE JOURNAL OF

THE AVICULTURAL SOCIETY

FOR THE STUDY OF

FOREIGN & BRITISH BIRDS

IN FREEDOM & CAPTIVITY


Third Series.— Vol. XII.— No. 4.— All rights reserved. APRIL, 1921.


THE CEDAR WAXWING


(Ampelis cedrorum)


There are three species of the genus Ampelis, the Waxwings, the

best-known being the Common or Bohemian Waxwing, A. garrulus,

which visits this country at irregular intervals, sometimes in considerable

numbers. Its habitat is the Arctic portions of both hemispheres.

The second species is the Cedar Waxwing, which occurs over the whole

of temperate North America, migrating south in winter to Guatemala

and the West Indies ; and the third is the Japanese Waxwing {A.

japonicus). All three species are very much alike in plumage, the

prevailing colour being soft reddish-brown, the head carrying an

erectile crest. The face is ornamented with black and the wings tipped

with yellow in A. garrulus and A. cedrorum, and red in A. japonicus.

In the Common Waxwing some of the secondary wing-feathers have

the shafts tipped with wax-like appendages, and in adult birds these

sometimes occur on the tail feathers as well. The Cedar Waxwing

has less of the red tips and the Japanese bird none at all.


The Cedar Waxwing is very rarely imported to Europe, but at the

present time a fine specimen is exhibited at the Zoological Gardens,

where it can readily be compared with the commoner species which

is also represented. It is a smaller bird, and in addition to the differences

mentioned above it will be observed that the flanks are yellowish-olive

instead of brownish-grey and the under tail-coverts are white instead

of chestnut as in A. garrulus.


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