THE BOHE^riAN WAXWING, OR WAXEN CHATTEREU 



363 



This Ijird possesses a fine and well-marked crest, which curves so boldly tliat it nearly 

 hides the short, wide, and hooked beak under its feathers. According to Sir S. Raffles, 

 the colouring of this species is as follows : " The general colour of this bird is a brilliant 

 emerald-green. ... A little above and before the eyes, the feathers are of a deep velvet- 

 black at their base, and only tipped with green, but crossed in the coverts by three velvet- 

 black bands. The primary feathers, as well as the whole under side of the wings, are 

 dusky, approaching to black, with the exception of the outer margins of some, which are 

 edged with green. The tail is short, roumled, and composed of ten feathers, which are 

 gieen above and bluish-black below. The whole of the under parts are green ; this colour 

 is brightest on the sides of the neck and round the eyes." 



Tlie total length of this species is about six inches, and the bird resembles a thrush in 

 the general contour of its body. 



BOHEMIAN WAXWING, OR WAXEN CHATTERER.— '.4-/i!j>c^s garrula. 



A SMALL but interesting group of birds has been designated by the name of Ampelina?, 

 or Chatterers, in allusion to the loquacity for which some of the species are remarkable. 

 They all have a wide mouth, opening nearly as far as the eyes, but without the bristly 

 appendages which so often accompany a large extent of gape. Several of the species are 

 celebrated for the singular haiiy appendage to the secondary and tertiarj' quill- feathers of 

 the wings, which closely resemljle spots of red sealing-wax, and have given rise to the 

 title of Waxen, which has been almost invariably applied to these birds. 



One well-known species, the Waxen Chatterer, is a tolerably frequent visitor of 

 England, though it cannot be reckoned among the common British birds. It is also 

 known by the name of the Bohemian Chatterer, the latter name being singularly 

 inappropriate, as the bird is quite as rare in Bohemia as in England. 



It is a very gregarious bird, assembling in very large flocks, and congregating so closely 

 together, that gi-eat numbers have been killed at a single discliarge of a gun. A corre- 

 spondent of the FieJd newspaper, dating from Christiana, in Xorway, gives the following 

 interesting particulars of this curious Ijird : " For the last month there have been, and 



