22 
THE OREGON NATURALIST. 
condition in general explained by the fact, that 
the largest representat/on comes through migra- 
Our birds of sum- 
mer migrate south in winter, while those we 
tions from other regions, 
see of winter move further north in summer- 
The indigenuous birds are few and I have 
not studied them sufficiently to give in full our 
resident birds. During the cold bleak days 
of winter the only birds seen are those—the 
sight in which signify coldness as the snow- 
birds, finches, etc. 
One of our interesting and most beautiful 
birds is lhe Bohemian Wax-wing (Amfelés 
Sarru/us.) They must be seen to be admired. 
Many people, I find, have seen them, but 
never knew they were so beautiful. To see 
them huddled together on some withered and 
leafless limb, each crowding against the other, 
and apparenily in an endeaver to keep warm 
they crowd each other off, one takes pity on 
them and thinks the blrds are cold, but this is 
not the reason of their congrega‘ing together. 
It is because they are gregarious birds and 
always assemble in large flocks and get so 
close together that in one discharge of the gun I 
have killed numbers of them, 
Last February I fired into a flock killing 
nine and wounding another. In my endeavor 
to catch him he would scream and run about 
the bushes, and finally when I got him ‘‘corner- 
ed” and reached to pick him up, he laid hold 
of my finger with his bill and held on sufficient- 
ly for me to pick him up. Upon examination 
I found the wound to be very slight, just the 
tip of the wing broken. I carried him home, 
I fed him principally on fruit and allowed him 
to run about in my laboratory’ 
water but he would not drink, although he 
would bathe in it. Then I gave him a bunch 
of snow and he would ‘‘gulp” it down in large 
doses. One morning i went into my laboratory 
to find that my Wax-wing was dead. I did 
not examine him then, but concluded probably 
he had died because of the confinement, for as 
birds have double circulation and respiration 
nothing affects them sc quick as the supply of 
I gave him 
air. Afterwards upon examination I found 
the cause. The day before I had give him an 
apple part of which was rotten. He thought 
it was immense. He would dive down get a 
Soon his 
the 
mouth full swallow it and chirp. 
head and breast was smeared over with 
cellulose from the apple. Some of the apple 
gettingin his nostrils, hardened, thereby ‘‘shut- 
ting off his wind.” 
Owning to the fine and soft feathers: the 
charming blending of colors and the ends of 
the quills tipped with red horny appendiges for 
which it takes its common name. makes the 
Wax-wing a very attractive bird. The plumage 
coloring is vaiied. The side of head is orange 
brown, heightening on the forehead, a narrow 
but well defined line of sooty black c1osses the 
frontlet, thence passing to back of head, envel- 
oping the eyes on each side. Chin and throat, 
sooty black, Primaries, Secondaries and _ tail 
feathersashy black tipped with yellow, showing 
continuous in ciosed Primary wing 
coverts tipped with white, showiug continuous 
Under surface ashy. Under 
tail coverts chestnut. Length about seven and 
Eyes carmine, tarsus and bill 
tail. 
in clcsed wing. 
ove: half inches. 
black. 
A peculiarity of these birds are the *‘Sealing 
Wax” on the tips of the quills of the second- 
aries. The full number are eght. None are 
developed until the second year. 
One day while mounnting one of these birds 
our physician stepped into my laboratory. After 
looking at it awhile he wanted to know what 
I had beer doing to that bird. He supposed I 
had stuck sealing wax on its wings to ‘‘pan-off” 
on some one as a natural curiosity. 
Their principal fool is berries of the wild 
rose which grow abundant here. 
PALEONTOLOGY. 
By Chas, Miller Jr., 
CORALS. 
How many of the readers of the OREGON 
NATURALIsSY know how, and by what, the 
Fossil Coral was formed? Perhaps some one 
out of its thousands of readers are ignorant in 
this, ifso, I will try and help you to understand 
them somewhat. 
