BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 357 



The general texture of the feathers of this species, (and its 

 near relative, the Cedar Bird) so remarkably different from that 

 of nearly all other species, gives it a beautiful, rich, and soft, 

 plumage which must be seen to be fully appreciated. 



No close observer of the individual characteristicts of the 

 birds, ever fails to be peculiarly impressed by it, and so strik- 

 ing is it that nearly everybody wants a specimen for mounting, 

 which has led to the decimation of the species, and would most 

 naturally lead to its extermination, or to driving it to other 

 lines of migration, but for the irregularities of its migrations 

 already alluded to. It has grown shy, but less so than we 

 would naturally expect. While closely resembling the Cedar 

 Bird in its quaker-drab general coloration, and a prominent 

 crest which it elevates at will, it is appreciably larger, a little 

 darker, and has some white on the wings, besides dark-red, or 

 iron-rust under tail coverts which constitute a striking distinc- 

 tion from the white of the other species. The two species 

 some time become mixed together in the same flock in early 

 spring. 



Their food consists chiefly of berries and wild grapes in win- 

 ter, but as the spring awakens the insect world, they become 

 decidedly insectivorous, catching winged forms after the most 

 approved methods of the true fly-catchers. 



They remain until the latter part of April in this latitude, 

 and have all left the State for more northern regions by the 

 1st of May. I know nothing of their breeding habits, but trust 

 they are more songful then, for they have no approach to 

 melody while with us. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 



High crested; general color brownish- ash with a faint shade 

 of reddish, especially anteriorly; the forehead, sides of head 

 and under tail coverts brownish- orange; hinder parts purer 

 ash; region about vent white; primaries and tail feathers plum- 

 beous black, especially towards the tips; tail with a terminal 

 band of yellow; a narrow frontal line passing backward, involv- 

 ing the eye, and extending above and behind it; chin and upper 

 part of throat black; tips of the secondary coverts and a spot 

 on the end of the outer webs of all the quills white; those on 

 the inner primaries glossed with yellow; secondaries with red, 

 horny tips, like sealing wax; side of the lower jaw whitish. 



Length, 7.40; wing, 4.50; tail, 3. 



Habitat, northern parts of Northern Hemisphere. 



