102 Wild Birds 



As I have said in another place, the female would often fly 

 direct to the tent and alight on the end of the ridge-pole just 

 above the nest. Here she would pause a moment, then go to 

 her young. Should they fail to respond promptly, she gives 

 a peculiar clucking sound, a habit common to many species, 

 which is the stimulus applied as a last resort. At this signal 

 every mouth is opened wide, even if the gullet is already full. 

 Indigestible substances pass through the alimentary canal, and 

 are never regurgitated in either young or adults. 



Cedar Waxwings have been seen in the act of sipping maple 

 sap in March, either standing near a broken twig and reaching 

 round to pick off the drops from the underside or hovering over 

 the spot and taking sips while on the wing. 1 



Towards the last of August, small flocks of Cedar-birds are 

 moving about in search of food, the low murmur of their call- 

 notes being audible for a moment only as they pass overhead. 

 They know when the wild cherries are ripe, and never fail to 

 visit the trees skirting the fields. The black cherry tree is most 

 attractive when laden with the pendent racemes of black 

 cherries, its tremulous foliage shining in the sun, with Robins 

 and Cedar-birds fluttering about it. Every good tree is an 

 aviary when its fruit is ripe in late summer and early autumn. 

 Both old and young are on hand. Then you may see one sidle 

 along a bough, stretch its neck, wag its tail, and fondle another 

 with its bill. Their fine breezy call-notes suggest the bleating 

 of the insects in the grass below. Tent caterpillars spin large 

 nests in these trees, but the birds prefer the acid-bitter fruit to 

 the insects. Occasionally a bird will leave its perch, and dive 

 for an insect in the air with the ease and precision of a pro- 

 fessional flycatcher. I have seen the Cedar-bird either taking 

 the spider from his web or possibly robbing him of his prey. 

 The birds peck at the cherries, pull them off, suck up the juicy 

 pulp, but drop the hard stone. The ground under the trees, 

 as well as beneath their favorite perches, is covered with cherry 

 stones. Suddenly there is a swirl of wings, and the band moves 

 off rapidly to try the fruit in some other -quarter. 

 1 For this note I am indebted to Mr. Robert J. Sim, of Jefferson, Ohio. 



