60 | WAXWING. 
a few came under my inspection; and several were observed 
during the severe storm in the winter of 1823. In the 
winter of 1827, Waxwings again visited our island.’ So they 
also did in large numbers in most parts of the country, though 
chiefly in the eastern counties or those bordering on them, 
in the months of January and February, in the year 1850, 
the weather being very severe for some time; and not a few 
have been met with since. I have hardly a doubt but that 
some have visited us every year. 
In Yorkshire, some have occurred in most winters, especially 
in hard frosts, but most in the year just named. One was 
eaught alive in a bush near Bridlington Quay. I am in- 
formed by Mr. Robert Dunn, of Helister, near Weesdale, in 
the Shetland Islands, that one was taken at Northmaven, in 
the north part of Shetland, on the Ist. of April, 1851; and 
about the same time another at Lerwick; and a third seen 
at a place called Aithsting, near Helister. In Ireland, divers 
specimens have at various times occurred. In Scotland they 
are also said to appear annually. 
It is migratory in its habits, leaving in the latter part of 
November, the polar countries for the more genial climes of 
more southern districts, from which latter it returns to the 
former in March or April, according to the season. 
Birds of this species seem to associate in flocks, sometimes 
of two or three hundred individuals. They are easily tamed, 
and are gentle and quiet. 
Their flight strongly resembles that of the Starling. ‘They 
roost among the thickest branches of trees and bushes; and 
in windy weather seek shelter very near the ground, or hide 
in the crevices of rocks in rocky countries.’ 
The Waxwing feeds on berries, such as those of the common 
thorn, the mountain ash, the juniper, the arbutus, and the 
whortle-berry. 
The note is a shrill whistle. 
These birds are believed to breed within the limits of the 
Arctie circle—in holes among rocks, or in deep forests. 
Male; length, about eight inches and a half; bill, black, 
inclining to yellowish white or horn-colour at the base: the 
upper part is much notched about one fourth from the tip, 
and the under one has a corresponding groove on its edge, 
as in the Shrikes. Iris, purplish red; a black streak runs to 
and beyond it: bristly black feathers cover the nostrils. <A 
pendent crest of silky feathers, nearly an inch and a half in 
