18 BRITISH BIRDS, WITH THEIR NESTS AND EGGS 



" They were remarkably silent birds ; the only note I heard was a cir-ir-ir-ir-re, 

 very similar to a well-known note of the Blue-Tit. Occasionally this succession 

 of notes was repeated so rapidly as to form a trill like the song of the Redpole." 



In the summer time the Waxwing appears to be largely, if not wholly insecti- 

 vorous, crane-flies seeming to constitute its favourite food ; but later in the year 

 it devours great quantities of berries of juniper, privet, guelder-rose, as well as 

 hips and haws : it is especially fond of mistletoe berries. In the winter, when 

 Waxwings are very fat, they are said to be greatly esteemed by the Russians as 

 an article of food. 



Lord Lilford, in his " Birds of Northamptonshire," speaks of " the chatter of 

 a party of Waxwings passing overhead whilst we were inspecting my aviary in 

 the pleasure-grounds at Lilford," and he adds " I am well acquainted with the 

 note of the Waxwing from having kept many of them in confinement, a proceeding 

 which I cannot recommend, as they have no merit whatever except their beauty, 

 being dull, quarrelsome, greedy, and filthy to an incredible degree, and in most 

 instances dying from plethora after a short captivity. Hips and haws, currants, 

 raisins (in fact, small fruits of all kinds) are voraciously devoured by these birds, 

 and appear to be their favourite food, but they will also eat chopped meat, hard- 

 boiled egg, hemp-seed, bread-crumbs, carrots, potatoes, and ants' eggs; they drink 

 a great deal, but seldom wash, and I have more than once seen a Waxwing delib- 

 erately eat its own faeces, though it was abundantly supplied with many varieties 

 of food ; none of these birds ever became tame with me, and I shall certainly 

 never buy any of them again." 



Seebohm gives them much the same character: "They were most voracious 

 eaters, and the cage required cleaning several times a day. They were very active 

 and restless, and even when perched at rest, seemed to be continually moving their 

 heads. If alarmed they would stretch out their necks to almost double the usual 

 length." 



On the other hand Swaysland (Cassell's Cage-birds, p. 340) says : " It is 

 easily tamed, and in the aviary is docile and quiet. It should be fed upon German 

 paste, sponge-cake, a little hard-boiled egg, Juniper berries, soaked grocers' currants, 

 or any other soft-skinned fruit." I think it quite likely that, associated with birds 

 of its own size in an aviary, the Waxwing would become far more easily reconciled 

 to captivity, would eat less, bathe more frequently, and keep in better health, than 

 in a cage : moreover, I should certainly not recommend either raw meat or grocers' 

 currants to be given to it as articles of food. 



