BABY WAXWINGS 199 



the long flight across. He was brought in 

 and remained in the house a day, giving 

 opportunity for a close examination of his 

 plumage. I was surprised to see the " sealing- 

 wax " tips to his wing-feathers already as- 

 sumed, being like very fine threads, not more 

 than one sixteenth of an inch long, though 

 of the regular sealing-wax color. The little 

 fellow showed no fear or dread of the human 

 species, painfully reminding us that it is only 

 in ignorant infancy that a bird dares to trust 

 us. Finding that the waif could fly well, he 

 was set free in a place frequented by the 

 little group to which it was supposed he 

 belonged. 



On another occasion I have seen a young 

 bird of this species come onto a piazza where 

 people were sitting, fly about among them, 

 and almost alight on one. They seem to be 

 unusually confiding youngsters. 



That summer also I had another experience 

 with the cedar-waxwing, as intimated above 

 I saw him in his domestic r61e. I first 

 noticed one trying to secure a bit of string 

 which was tangled in an apple-tree. This, of 

 course, aroused my suspicions, for when a bird 



