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BOMBYCILLA GARRULA— -VIEILL. 



BLACK-THROATED WAX-WING. 



Bomby cilia garrula, European chatterer, Sw. & Rich. 



Bombycilla garrula, Bonap. Syn. 



Bombycitla gairula, Bonap. Amer. Om. 



European Waxi n Chatterer, Nutt. Man. 



Bohemian Chatterer, Bombycilla garrula, Aud. Om. Biog. 



Specific Character — Crest elongated ; a large black patch on the 

 throat ; forepart of the head, sides of the throat and the under tail 

 coverts chestnut-red. Adult with the plumage soft and silky ; bill 

 short, rather stout; neck short; body full; head crested ; general 

 color light grayish brown ; rump, upper tail coverts, and abdomen, 

 ash-gray ; a black band commencing at the nostril, passing round 

 the upper part of the head ; throat and wings black ; the outer 

 webs of the primaries, excepting the first, tipped with yellow ; the 

 outer webs of the secondaries more largely tipped with white ; pri- 

 mary coverts with the same ; a bright red waxen appendage con- 

 tinuing from the shafts of the secondaries beyond their webs ; tail 

 black, shaded at the base with light gray, and tipped with yellow, 

 the terminal portion of the shafts red, in some cases with red waxen 

 appendages as on the secondaries ; fore part of the head, sides of 

 the throat and the upper tail coverts chestnut-red. Length nine 

 inches, wing four and five-eighths. 



Mr. Audubon states that the most southern locality in which he 

 has known this species to have been produced, was in the neighbor- 

 hood of Philadelphia. Several were shot on Long Island in 1830 

 and 1832. In the latter part of July, 1841, I was informed by Mr. 

 Chrysler, who resides in Canada, in the immediate vicinity of the 

 Falls of Niagara, that a few days before my arrival, he saw a bird 

 in that neighborhood, differing from every other species that had 

 ever come under his observation. He described it as resembling the 

 Cedar Bird in general colors, though much larger, the crest longer, 

 and a black patch on the throat, which corresponds with the descrip- 

 tion of the Bohemian Chatterer, which it doubtless was. In the 

 United States it is unfrequent, and rarely observed except during 



