42O 



BOMBYCILLA. WAXWING. 



Generic Character. 



Rostrum breve, basi paulo 

 depressum et trigonum ; 

 supra convexum, versus 

 apicem deflexum, utrinque 

 emarginatum. 



Nares ovatae, plumis mini- 

 mis obtectae. 



Pedes tetradactyli, digiti ex- 

 teriores basi sola connexi. 



Beak short, slightly depress- 

 ed and triangular at the 

 base ; above convex, to- 

 wards the tip bent down, 

 and emarginate on each 

 side. 



Nostrils oval, covered with 

 small feathers. 



Feet four-toed, with the outer 

 one connected at the base. 



JL HE Waxwings, which have been detached from 

 the Chatterers by Monsieur Vieillot, have a most 

 remarkable and peculiar appendage on the tips of 

 some of the quills, which has very much the ap- 

 pearance of red sealing-wax, and by which they 

 may be distinguished at first sight from any other 

 known genus of birds. 



They were considered by the older ornitholo- 

 gists as forming a distinct genus, but were placed 

 by Linneus, in his Fauna Suecica, in Lanius; but 

 in the Systema Naturae, in Ampelis, in which lat- 

 ter circumstance he has been followed by most 

 modern authors. They feed on berries, but of 

 their nests we are ignorant. 



