1920 J General Notes 459 



We had many opportunities to watch these beautiful birds and observe 

 their actions, so quote our notes made at the time : 



"December 22 — The weather the past week has been lowery with 

 frequent rains and a temperature at times as high as 52 degrees. This 

 morning we heard the Bohemians and found them in the same locality 

 where we had previously seen flocks on two other occasions. The flock 

 was a large one, a majority of the birds being perched in or near the top 

 of a large maple tree, all headed directly into the wind which seems to 

 be customary when any appreciable wind is blowing, from which indi- 

 viduals were constantly dropping down to feed on the berries in some 

 adjacent mountain ash trees. As usual there was a constant movement 

 in the flock, birds continually leaving it and returning and judging from 

 the sound the greater number were uttering their soft rolling notes that 

 are so pleasing to the ear. 



"A striking and very noticeable thing about a flock is, when disturbed 

 nearly all the birds will take wing and circle around a number of times 

 until they come together in a close and compact body, then it appears 

 as if at the same instant all were impelled by the same impulse to alight 

 and the flock will sail up to the chosen spot on stiffly extended wings, 

 this action on the part of each individual bird being uniform and so 

 marked as to almost stamp their identity, and during these various evo- 

 lutions the soft lisping notes of the birds are always much in evidence. 



"December 25 — We again watched the waxwings in the same locality 

 as heretofore, it certainly is a favorite spot with them. For a long 

 time our observations continued and we saw a repetition of the actions 

 already noted, but among the birds in this flock were a few Cedar Wax- 

 wings, some California Purple Finches and the ever-present Western 

 Robin, and these latter resented the intrusion of the Bohemians for they 

 would frequently make a dash at the feeding birds and attempt to drive 

 them away. This was futile for the Bohemians would simply shift their 

 positions from wherever they might happen to be and resume feeding. 

 During this time there was considerable noise made by all the birds which 

 evidently had a reflex action on some few Shufeldt's Juncos and Oregon 

 Chicadees in the neighborhood, for these quickly came over and joined the 

 flock, making it quite a heterogeneous one. 



"Among the Bohemians were many that evidently had eaten their full 

 of the berries and these would quietly sit in the top of a large tree nearby 

 and preen themselves, but from time to time some one of the birds with 

 the same action as a flycatcher would fly from its perch after a passing 

 insect, being at times successful, for on one occasion we were close enough 

 to see the bird catch a large-sized light-colored moth. As these actions 

 on the part of the birds were frequent there must have been numbers of 

 the insects in the air. 



"December 29 — Early this morning saw a flock of the Bohemians 

 alight in a large tree in the locality before mentioned, and as we watched 



