76 THE BIRDS ABOUT Us. 



cousin, the Bohemian Chatterer, is sometimes here, 

 but is too rare a bird to be considered. Not so the 

 smaller species. I have often seen 

 flocks of at least a hundred, and 

 several such flocks in one day. They 

 are birds of all the year round, 

 yet there is an element of un- 

 certainty in their move- 

 ments. They are de- 

 liberate, and this 

 impresses you at 



Cedar-bird. ^R? once when you see 



the flock leave one 

 halting-place and seek another. They never hurry, 

 and when they alight, the position in the tree of each 

 one is the concern of all, and it is some moments 

 before they get settled to their satisfaction. There 

 must be no crowding, no ruffling of the plumage. 

 They live forever in a prescribed suit, and never 

 permit a particle of dust to rest upon it. Being 

 both vegetarian and carnivorous, we look for some 

 slight variation in their habits when they change 

 from cherries and cedar-berries to gnats and cater-, 

 pillars ; but there is none. They are as neat in man- 

 aging a squirming worm as a juicy berry, and never 

 need a napkin. 



Late in the summer a number of pairs agree upon 

 some orchard or clump of wild crab-trees, and there 

 build a " somewhat flat and rather bulky nest, com- 

 posed of small twigs, roots, grasses, bits of string, 

 feathers, or other soft materials." The nesting duties 

 over, the young and old return to their lazy ways, 



