BOKBYCILLA. 



BOMBYCILLA. 



B. yarrula, European Wax- Wing or Chatterer. This elegant specie*, 

 which i* l*o known by the English namea of the Bohemian Chatterer, 

 Bohemian Wax-Wing and Silk-Tail, in Le Jueur de Boh6me (Buffon, 

 *c. ), Grand Janenr (Temminck), and Geay de Bohcme of the French ; 

 Oarrulo di Boemia of the Italian* ; Kothlichgraner Seidenschwantz 

 (Meyer), Earopouchcr Seidenschwanx, and Genuine Seidenschwanz 

 (Bechstein) of the German* ; GomUtu Bokemieui of Gamer ; Bomby- 

 ritla of Schwenck. ; Amptiii of Aldrovand. ; BombycilJa Bohemica ol 

 Brinon ; A mptlii garni iu of Linweus ; BombycipHorti garrnla ol 

 Brehm ; Bombycipkora jioliotalia of Meyer ; Bomkycirora garrula 



uiminck; and Bombycilta garrnla of Vieillot 

 In addition to the nomenclature above given, the bird is said to 

 he named by the Italian* in some localities Heceo- Frisoue, in others, 

 Oalletto del Bosco ; and by the bird-catcher* of Bologna, Uccello del 

 Hondo Noro ; by the Germans, Zinzerelle, Wipstertz, Schnee-Voge] 

 and Schnee-Leachke, and by those in the neighbourhood of Num- 

 berg, Beemerle and Behemle ; by the Swede*, Siden-Swontz ; and by 

 the Bohemian*, Brkoslaw. 



That the Bohemian Chatterer was known to the ancients there can 

 be little doubt; but a great deal of obscurity prevail* aa to the 

 names by which it was distinguished. Some have taken it to be the 

 Incmdiaria Arit of Pliny (book x. c. 13), the inauspicious bird, on 

 account of whose appearance Rome more than once underwent 

 lustration, but more especially in the consulship of L. Cassias and 

 C. Marius, when the apparition of a great _owl (Bubo) was added to 

 the horrors of the year. Others have supposed that it was the bird 

 of the Hercynian forest (book x. c. 47), whose feathers shone in the 

 night like fire. Aldrovandun, who collected the opinions on this 

 point, has taken some pains to show that it could be neither the one 

 nor the other. The worthy Italian gravely assures his readers that its 

 feathers do not shine in the night ; for he says he kept one alire for 

 three months, and observed it at all hours (" quAvis noctis horft con 

 templatua sum " ). 



It is by no means improbable that this bird was the rri<f>a\os of 

 Aristotle (' Hist. Anim.,' book ix. c. 16). 



The geographical range of the Bohemian Chatterer is extensive, 

 comprehending a great portion of the arctic world. It appears gene- 

 rally in flocks, and a fatality was at one time believed to accompany 

 their movement*. Thus Aldrovandus observes that large flights of 

 them appeared in February, 1530, when Charles V. was crowned at 

 Bologna; and again in 1551, when they spread through the duchies of 

 Modena, Piacenza, and other Italian districts, carefully avoiding that 

 of Ferrara, which was afterwards convulsed by an earthquake. In 

 1552, according to Gesner, they visited the banks of the Rhine, near 

 Mcntz, in such myriads that they darkened the air. In 1571 troops 

 of them were seen flying about the north of Italy, in the month of 

 December, when the Ferrarese earthquake, according to AMrovnudus, 

 took place, and the rivers overflowed their bonks. 



Necker, in his Memoir on the Birds of Geneva, observes that from 

 the beginning of this century only two considerable flights have 

 been observed in that canton, one in January, 1807, and the other 

 in 1814, when they were very numerous, and having spent the winter 

 there, took their departure in March. In the first of those years they 

 were scattered over a considerable part of Europe, and early in 

 January were seen near Edinburgh. Savi observes that they ore 

 not seen in Tuscany except in very severe winters, and that the 

 years 1806 and 1807 were remarkable for the number of them 

 which entered Piedmont, especially the valleys of Lanzo and Suza. 



It has been said that it is always rare in France, and that of late 

 years it has become scarce in Italy and Germany; but Bechstein 

 observes that in moderate seasons it is found in great flights in the 

 skirts of the forests throughout the greater part of Germany and 

 Bohemia, and that it is to be seen in Thuringia only in the winter : 

 if the season be mild in very small numbers, the greater portion 

 remaining in the north ; if the weather be severe, it advances farther 

 ." i tUt 



The Bohemian Chatterer must be considered only a* an occasional 

 visitant to the British Islands, though Pennant says that they appear 

 only by accident in South Britain, but that about Edinburgh they 

 come annually in February, and feed on the berries .!' tie- mimtaiu- 

 ash ; adding that they also appear as far south as Northumberland, 

 and like the fieldfare make the berries of the white thorn their food : 

 he records the death of one which was killed at Garthmeilio in Den- 

 bighshire in a fir-tree during the severe frost of December, 1788. 

 Latham, in a note to this statement, says that the late Mr. Tunstall 

 informed him that in the winter of 1787 many flocks were seen all 

 over the county of York, and that toward* the *pring a flock of between 

 twenty and thirty were observed within two miles of Wyclitfe, his 

 place of residence. Bewick states that in the years 1790, 1791, and 

 M08 several of them were taken in Northumberland and Durham as 

 early as the month of November. Selby says that in the winter of 

 1810 Urge flocks were dispersed through various parts of the kingdom, 

 and that from that period it does not seem to have visited our island 

 till the month of February, 1822, when a few came under his inspo- 

 tion, and several were again observed during the severe *torm in the 

 winter of 1828. Montagu says that ho received it nut of Staffordshire, 

 and that he has known others killed in the more southern cmmirs 

 in the autumn and winter. In Mr. Rennie's edition of the ' Ornitho- 



logical Dictionary' (1838) it appears that one had been *h>.t in the 

 park of Lord Boringdon at Snltram in Devonshire, and that not less 

 than twenty have been killed in the counties of Suffolk and Norfolk 

 during the last three winter*. Grave* says that about Christinas, 

 1808, a number were shot in the neighbourhood of Camberwell, fr.mi 

 one of which, being but slightly wounded, his figure was taken. In 

 ' London's Magazine ' it i* stated that a fine specimen was shot near 

 Coventry in December, 1830, where it appeared to associate with 

 starlings, and that during the same month of the same year six were 

 killed in the vicinity of Ipswich. The late Mr. W. Thompson records 

 various instances of the occurrence of thin 1'inl in Ireland. In the 

 British Island* it more frequently occurs in the north than the south, 

 and Mr. Yarrell states that "the winters of 1787, 1788, 1789, 

 1790,1791, 1808, 1810,1820,1822,1828, 1830, 1881, 1884, and 1835, 

 are particularly recorded as having afforded opportunities of obtaining 

 specimens in some one or other of various northern localities." 



Although called the Bohemian Wax- Wing, it is not more common in 

 Bohemia than England. In the central mid southern parts of the 

 European continent it is only an occasional visitor. 



In northern Russia and the extreme north of Norway, according to 

 C. L. Bonaparte, they are seen in great numbers every winter, being 

 observed there earlier than in temperate countries. In northern Asia 

 and eastern Europe their migrations are tolerably regular. Very 

 numerous flocks pass through Scania in November, and are again seen 

 on their return in the spring. 



But the species is not confined to Europe and Asia. " By a singular 

 coincidence," says the Prince of Canino, " whilst we were proclaiming 

 this species as American, it was received by Temminck from Japan, 

 together with a new species, the third known of the genus." He says 

 that his best specimen was shot on the 20th of March, 1825, on the 

 Athabasca River, near the Rocky Mountains ; and observes that the 

 species appears to be spread widely, as ho had been credibly informed 

 by hunters that "cedar-birds of a large kind" had been shot a little 

 beyond the Mississippi ; adding that he is at a loss to conceive why 

 it should never have been observed on this side of the last-mentioned 

 river. Mr. Drummond in the spring of 1826 saw it near the sources 

 of the Athabasca, and Sir John Richardson observed it in the same 

 season at Great Bear Lake in lat. 65, where a male, of which he gives 

 a description, was shot on the 24th of May of that year. He also says 

 that he observed a large flock of at least three or four hundred on the 

 banks of the Saskatchewan, at Carlton House, early in May, 1827. 

 They alighted in a grove of poplars, settling all on one or two trees, 

 and making a loud twittering noise. They stayed only about an hour 

 in the morning, and were too shy to allow him to approach within 

 gunshot. 



The district where these birds breed is unknown. Bechstein says 

 that it does not build in Germany when wild, but within the Arctic 

 Circle. 



Bonaparte gives a very amiable character of the European Wax-Wing 

 in a state of nature, attributing to them a particular sentiment of 

 benevolence, even independent of reciprocal sexual attraction. 

 " Not only," says the Prince, " do the male and female caress and feed 

 each other, but the same proofs of mutual kindness have been 

 observed between individuals of the same sex." Speaking of their 

 habits he says, ''They always alight on trees, hopping awkwardly on 

 the ground. Their flight is very rapid : when taking wing they utter 

 a note resembling the syllables zi, zi, ri, but are generally silent not- 

 withstanding the name that has been given them." Bechstein says, 

 " When wild we see it in the spring eating, like thrushes, all sorts of 

 flies and other insects; in autumn and winter, different kinds of 

 berries; and in time of need, the buds and sprouts of the beech, 

 maple, and various fruit-trees." Willughby states that it feeds upon 

 fruit, especially grapes, of which it is very greedy. " Wherefore it 

 seems to me," he adds, " not without reason, to be called by that name 

 Amptlii." Bonaparte makes their food to consist of different kinds 

 of juicy berries, or of insects, observing that they are fond of the 

 berries of the mountain-ash and Phytolacca, and that they are 

 extremely greedy of grapes, and also, though in a less degree, of 

 juniper- and laurel-berries, apples, currants, figs, and other fruits. 

 He add* that they drink often, dipping their bills repeatedly. 



In captivity its qualities dn not appear to be very attractive, 

 according to Bcchstciu, who says that nothing but its beauty and 

 scarcity can render the possession of it desirable, for that it is a stupid 

 and lazy bird. Indeed he draws such a picture of its greediness and 

 dirty habits, that, if it be not overcharged, few we should think would 

 have it as an inmate. Leaving out the more'unpleasant parts of 

 bis description, we take the following extract from his ' Cage Birds ' : 

 " During the ten or twelve years that it can exist in confinement, 

 and on very meagre food, it does nothing but eat and repose for 

 digestion. If hunger induces it to move, its step is awkward, and its 

 lumps to clumsy as to bo disagreeable to the eye. Its song consists 

 inly nf weak and uncertain whittling, a little resembling the thrush, 

 but not so louil. While singing it moves the crest, but hardly moves 

 the thnmt. If this warbling is somewhat unmusical it has the merit, 

 of continuing throughout every season of the ye.-ir. When angry, 

 whieh happens sometimes near the cuminim feeding-trough, it. kn.-ks 

 very violently with its beak. It is easily tamed." The same autlinr 

 says, that in confinement the two universal pastes appear delicacies to 



