JOURNAL OK MAIM' ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. II 



the game forbade his watching to see when it was coming. Yet he 

 was plainly tense and watchful, and only once did I see a bird tail 

 to get the petal. In that instance the other bird gave him another 

 chance at it, when he got it all right, and the game continued. But 

 for this element of competition, this apparent keenness to take the 

 other bird unawares, which gave the spirit oi a sport to the perform 

 ance, it would have more the aspect of a "dance," for it was meas- 

 ured, dignified, and dainty, with the quality of an old-time minuet. 



Certainly throughout the time I watched, it had no observable 

 connection with courtship, however indirectly the mating season 

 may be responsible for it. The choosing of a partner seemed wholly 

 casual and disinterested, and when the game palled, the birds sepa 

 rated as casually. So matter-of-fact were all these birds, and so 

 finished was their execution, that one might expect to find this 

 pastime a common habit among their kind. Yet I have not again 

 seen anything like it. (1 have not had another chance to watch a 

 large flock.) 



Any mention of unusual development of the social instinct of 

 Waxwings by authors I have read has been merely reference to an 

 observation cited by Nuttall which Mr. Norton kindly sent me. 

 Mr. Nuttall writes: "An eyewitness assures me he has seen one 

 among a row of these birds seated upon a branch dart after an in- 

 sect, and offer it to his associate when caught, who very disinter- 

 estedly passed it to the next, and each delicately declining the offer, 

 the morsel has proceeded backwards and forwards before it was 

 appropriated." 1 



I saw nothing like this. Once three birds started to play, but 

 the game didn't go smoothly and after one or two passages they lost 

 interest and dispersed. Other than this instance, the performance 

 I watched was unvaried. It is gratifying to have seen it so per- 

 fectly. Aside from the scientific interest, the charm of those digni- 

 fied, dainty birds in graceful play among the sunny apple blossoms 

 is as pleasant to the memory as a glimpse at fairies dancing. 



*A somewhat similar observation is recorded by K- H. Forbu.sh, in "Useful 

 Birds and their Protection," p. 210. 



