76 Tue Birps Asout Us. 
cousin, the Bohemian Chatterer, is sometimes here, 
but is too rare a bird to be considered. Not so the 
smaller species. I have often seen 
flocks of at least a hundred, and 
several such flocks in one day. They 
are birds of all the year round, 
yet there is an element of un- 
certainty in their move- 
ments. They are de- 
liberate, and this 
impresses you at 




once when you see 
the flock leave one 
halting-place and seek another. They never hurry, 
and when they alight, the position in the tree of each 
one is the concern of all, and it is some moments 
before they get settled to their satisfaction! There 
must be no crowding, no ruffling of the plumage. 
They live forever in a prescribed suit, and never 
permit a particle of dust to rest upon it. Being 
Cedar-bird. 

both vegetarian and carnivorous, we look for some 
slight variation in their habits when they change 
from cherries and cedar-berries to gnats and cater- 
pillars; but there is none. They are as neat in man- 
aging a squirming worm as a juicy berry, and never 
need a napkin. 
Late in the summer a number of pairs agree upon 
some orchard or clump of wild crab-trees, and there 
build a “somewhat flat and rather bulky nest, com- 
posed of small twigs, roots, grasses, bits of string, 
feathers, or other.soft materials.” The nesting duties 
over, the young and old return to their lazy ways, 
