197 



Field Marks. The natty shape and bearing and the conspicuous upstanding crest are 

 easily recognizable field marks. The note, a fine sharp wheeze, is distinctive and soon 

 learned. See previous species. 



Nesting. Often in fruit or shade trees, in a bulky structure of strips of bark, leaves, 

 grasses, twigs, rootlets, moss, etc., lined with finer materials of the same nature. 



Distribution. America, north in Canada to and somewhat beyond the limits of regular 

 cultivation. 



The Cedar Waxwing is one of the familiar birds of the orchard. It 

 builds in the fruit trees in the summer and is rather too well known in the 

 vicinity of early ripening cherries. In the winter it seeks the various kinds 

 of old dried fruit left hanging on the branches. The coloration is soft and 

 harmonious with just enough accent of contrasting colour to give character. 

 The peculiar smooth, silky texture of the plumage seems to cause the 

 feathers to cling together so that they always lie smoothly and never seem 

 awry. The red-sealing-wax-like processes in which the shafts of the 

 secondaries and sometimes the tail feather end, common to this and the 

 Bohemian Waxwing, are unique amongst American birds and give an added 

 touch of individuality. 



Economic Status. About 13 per cent of the Waxwing's food is noxious 

 insects, the remainder largely fruit. The greater part of the fruit is wild 

 and of no economic importance, in fact, as with most birds, wild fruits are 

 evidently much preferred to cultivated ones. However, when early 

 cherries ripen before the wild the damage Waxwings can do is considerable. 

 The same amount of fruit distributed over many later trees might pass 

 unnoticed, but when the damage is concentrated upon the earliest and most 

 valuable part of the crop the loss is keenly felt. The protection of early 

 fruit from the depredations of this and a few other species of like habit is 

 a subject that has received considerable attention. To shoot all birds 

 visiting the orchard is one solution, but a very poor one. It gives only 

 partial protection and has to be repeated each season; for as long as any 

 remain in the vicinity the annual increase will undo the results of previous 

 efforts. Besides, the entire community is deprived of the valuable assistance 

 of a number of species in order that a certain amount of early fruit may be 

 protected. A cover of netting is generally cheaper than shooting. As 

 the birds prefer wild to cultivated fruit early ripening wild fruit trees in 

 waste corners and along fences provide inexpensive protection. The 

 Russian mulberry and serviceberry and later, the black currant, mountain 

 ash, raspberries, and blackberries, sumach, alder, wild grape, bittersweet, 

 nightshade, snowberry, and elders will serve the purpose. 



FAMILY LANIID^J. SHRIKES. BUTCHER-BIRDS. 



General Description. The Shrikes are medium-sized Passerine birds of raptorial 

 nature. They are easily recognized by their bills which are plainly hooked at the tip and 

 furnished with a notch and tooth near the end of the upper mandible (Figure 56, page 27). 

 The two species which occur in Canada are very similar in coloration and differ in minor 

 characters only (Plate XXXVIII A.) 



The Shrikes are interesting examples of Passerine or seed and insect- 

 eating birds adapted for a predatory life. The true Raptores-, the Hawks, 

 etc., which also prey upon the higher living forms, have powerful feet with 

 which to secure their food and hold it while they tear it with their bills. 

 The Shrikes are without these efficient grasping and holding limbs, having 



