350 Tin-: CEDAK WWW l^f.. 



scribes as lia\ iiig been placed in an alder at a height of eight feet, and it con- 

 lainetl four eggs on the [joint of hatching. The brooiling bird allowed a close 

 approach while iiixjn the nest, but was not seen again after being once flushed. 



.No. 134. 



CEDAR W.WWIXG. 



A. O. U. No. 619. Bombycilla cedrurum \ icill. 



Synonyms. — Ckdar-hird. CnKRKV-niKi). C.vroi.i.na \\.\.\wi.\c. Lesser 

 \V.\.\wiNr.. 



Description. — Adults: .\ conspicuous crest; extreme forehead, lores, and 

 line tliru eye velvety-black; chin blackish, fading rapidly into the rich grayish- 

 brown of remaining fore-parts and head ; a narrow whitish line Ixirdering the 

 black on the forelua<l and the blackish of the chin ; back darker, shading thru 

 ash of ruinj) to blackish-ash of tail; tail-feathers abruptly tipped with gamboge 

 yellow; belly sordiil yellow; under tail-coverts white; wings slaty-gray, primaries 

 narrowly edged with whitish; secondaries and inner (juills without while mark- 

 ings, but bearing tips of red "sealing-wax"; the tail-feathers are occasionally 

 found with the same curious, horny appendages; bill black; feet plumbeous. 

 Sexes alike, but considerable individual variation in number and size of waxen 

 tips. YotuKj, streaked everywhere with whitish, anrl usually without red tips. 

 Length T.. 50-7. 50 ( i()5.i-jrjo.3 1 ; wing 3.70 (94) ; tail 2.31 (5f<.7) : bill .40 ( 10.21. 



Recognition Marks. — S|)arro\v size; soft grayish-brown plumage; crest; 

 red sealing-wax lip> on secondaries; belly yellow; wings without white bars or 

 spots, as distinguished from jireceding species. 



Nesting. — Scst. a bulky alTair of leaves, grasses, bark-strips and trash, well 

 lined with rootlets and soft materials; ])laced in crotch or horizontally saddled 

 on limb of orchard or evergreen tree. liijijs, 3-6, dull grayish blue or putty-color, 

 marked sparingly with deep-set, rounded spots of umber f)r black. .\v. size, 

 .86 X .61 (21.8x15.5). Season: June, July ; two broods. 



General Ran^e. — North .\merica at large, from the Fur Countries south- 

 ward. In wintiT from the northern Ixtnler of the I'nited States south to the West 

 Indies and C"i>^ta Kica. I'.reeds from \irginia. Kansas, (Iregon, etc., northward. 



Ran^e in V\ ashinjtton. — Of regular occurrence in the State, but irregular 

 or variable Imally. Resident, but less common in winter. 



Authorities. — .hiif<clis ccdrornm Haird, Cooper and Suckley, Rep. Pac. 

 R. R. Surv. Xll. j.t. II. i860, p. 187. T. CcS:S. Rh. D'. Kb. Ra. I)-'. Ss--. Kk. U. E. 



Specimens. iV. of \\.\ I'rov. I'. I'. E. 



ONK does not care to commit himself in precise language upon the range 

 of the Cedarbird. or to predict that it will Ix- found at any given s|iot in a 

 given season. The fact is, Cedarbirds are gypsies of the feathered kind. 

 There are ahvavs some of them about somewhere, but their comings and g'^ings 

 are not according to any fixed law. .\ company of Ce<larbirds may throng the 



