THE WAXWING. 17 



In Great Britain the Waxwing has been most frequently met with in the 

 northern and eastern counties; Mr. Frohawk tells tne that in the winter of 1867-8 

 a flock of seven visited a small plantation at Brisley, in Norfolk ; but in England 

 it has from time to time been observed in almost every county, whilst in Ireland 

 it has been but rarely obtained ; its visits to Scotland have been tolerably frequent, 

 extending even to the islands of Skye, Orkney, and Shetland, but it has not been 

 recorded from the Outer Hebrides. 



The upper surface of the adult male Waxwing is pale rosy-brown, gradually 

 changing to ash-grey on the rump and upper tail-coverts, and into chestnut on the 

 sides of the crest and forehead ; a narrow frontal band, the lores, and a streak 

 from the back of the eye black ; wings and tail almost black, the wing-coverts, the 

 inner webs of the primaries, and outer webs of the secondaries tipped with white, 

 the latter tipped with wax-like vermilion points, the outside webs of the primaries 

 tipped with yellow, joining the white tips of the inner webs so as to form V-like 

 markings ; tail feathers broadly tipped with yellow ; under surface rosy-brown, 

 shading into chestnut 011 the cheeks ; a white streak at the base of the lower 

 mandible ; front of throat and chin black ; centre of belly whitish ; under tail- 

 coverts chestnut ; bill and feet black ; iris hazel. The female is slightly duller, 

 usually without the white tips to the inner webs of the primaries, and with smaller 

 wax-like terminations to the secondaries ; the tips of the tail-feathers somewhat 

 narrower. The young are browner, and have no black on the throat. 



This species appears in the breeding-season to haunt the more open portions 

 of forests of conifers and birch, but chiefly woods of pine, or larch, nesting in 

 colonies. The nest is a large open cup-shaped structure built upon the branch 

 of a tree, upon a foundation of twigs and reindeer moss, composed principally 

 of black hair-lichen, interwoven with slender twigs, bark, moss, and feathers, the 

 latter appearing most prominently in the lining. The eggs usually number from 

 five to six, rarely seven, and are described by Professor Newton, who owns the 

 greater part of the large series acquired by John Wolley (the discoverer of the 

 breeding- grounds of this species) as " delicate sea-green, sometimes fading to French 

 white, but often of a more or less pale olive, and occasionally of a dull purplish 

 grey. On this are almost always bold blotches, spots, and specks of deep brownish 

 black, though sometimes the edges are blurred. Beneath these stronger markings 

 there is nearly always a series of blotches or streaks of greyish lilac, and among 

 them well-defined spots or specks of yellowish brown are interspersed. In some 

 eggs the darkest markings are quite wanting, in others the ground is of a deep 

 olive colour." 



According to Seebohm, who, in 1867, kept a pair of this species in a cage, 



