324 Saunders, Nesting of the Cedar Waxwing. Ljuly 



covered ten nests of the Cedar Waxwing in a small tract of about 

 five acres. These nests, with one other about half a mile distant, 

 were well located to watch, and I had plenty of spare time so that 

 in the next few weeks I made many notes on the nesting habits of 

 this species, which form the basis for this paper. 



The nests were located at Woody Crest, a small shore resort of 

 West Haven, Conn. The tract of ground was flat, somewhat 

 swampy and covered with a second growth of red maple and chest- 

 nut sprouts about ten or twelve feet in height. In addition to the 

 Waxwing's nests, I found on the tract three nests of the Goldfinch 

 and two of the Indigo Bunting. Besides these I found many 

 empty nests which showed that Robins, Catbirds, Brown Thrashers, 

 Red-eyed and White-eyed Vireos, Yellow-breasted Chats, and 

 Maryland Yellowthroats had nested there earlier in the season. 

 The Waxwing nests were placed in red maples from five to ten feet 

 above the ground. This is much lower than the species usually 

 nests, probably because of the lowness of the bushes themselves. 

 It was noticeable that each nest was placed as high as the bush, in 

 which it was located, permitted. The nest located half a mile 

 away, was in much higher cover and was fully twenty feet above 

 the ground. 



The composition of the nests was quite variable, but this varia- 

 tion seemed to be due more to the location of the nests than to the 

 individual tastes of the birds. Thus two nests that were placed 

 in bushes close to a large patch of sphagnum moss, were largely 

 composed of that material, while other nests, not twenty feet 

 away, but not easily accessible to the moss, had none whatever 

 in them. The average nest was composed of grass and strips of 

 bark with a lining of fine grass and plant fiber. Other materials 

 used were roots, leaves, ferns, weed stalks, twigs, chestnut blossoms, 

 and string. All these materials, except perhaps the string, could be 

 obtained close to the nests. This bird appears to have a strong 

 liking for string. In late June, 1907, 1 watched a pair of Waxwings 

 pulling string from an old Oriole's nest, which they carried to a 

 maple about fifty feet away where they were building their nest. 

 This is the only opportunity I have had to watch nest-building 

 by this species. In this case both birds took part in the building, 

 but one bird, presumably the female, was much more active than 

 the other. 



