10 Anderson, Nesting of the Bohemian Waxwing. \^an 



LJan. 



NESTING OF THE BOHEMIAN WAXWING (BOMBY- 

 CILLA GARRULUS). 



BY RUDOLPH M. ANDERSON. 



Although I had occasionally met with this silky-plumaged and 

 erratic wanderer at different times in winter in the northern United 

 States, my first glimpse of the bird in summer was on June 8, 1908. 

 The opportunity was offered while crossing the Mountain Portage, 

 of the Slave River, between Smith's Landing and Fort Smith, on 

 about the sixtieth parallel of north latitude. Here a series of 

 rapids and cascades, extending for sixteen miles, compel passengers 

 and freight for the Northwest Territories to be transported over a 

 road varied with timber, hills, sandy ridges, and muskegs — notori- 

 ous as one of the worst mosquito-infested localities in the North. 



On this particular day, the hot sun kept the mosquitoes down to 

 some extent, so that it was possible at times to dispense with the 

 head-net, that necessary but obscuring hindrance to bird-observa- 

 tion in the North. Although the 'bull-dog' flies (a species of 

 Tabanus), fairly swarm along the higher reaches of sandy road, 

 they do not bother the collector very much. 



About four miles south of Fort Smith, the road winds along a 

 series of high sandy ridges, from a few hundred yards to half a 

 mile from the Slave River. This area, for about a mile, has not 

 long since been burned over, and is sparsely covered with scattering 

 jack-pines (Pinus banksiana), white spruce (Picea canadensis) and 

 a very few white poplars (Populus tremuloides) . The ground is 

 covered with short, scanty grasses and a low-spreading, ground- 

 creeping shrub bearing dry red berries resembling small cranberries. 

 At this place some wood had been cut and corded up in small piles 

 here and there. 



While passing this place about noon, I saw two Bohemian Wax- 

 wings, and followed one for some time, but did not succeed in 

 securing it. In the afternoon I walked back again and saw about 

 a dozen waxwings, singly and in two's and three's. They appeared 

 to be mating and chased each other about more or less, and the 

 peculiar lisping waxwing whistle was generally kept up. One 

 bird perched upon a horizontal limb, launched forth and captured 



