TWELVE WINTER BIRDS. 293 



with a conspicuous crest which can be raised or low- 

 ered at pleasure. 



The wax-like tips on the wing feathers are only 

 prolongations of the shafts with curiously formed pig- 

 ment cells containing an abundance of red and yellow 

 coloring matter. Their presence gives rise to two 

 common names, other than those given above, by 

 which the bird is known, namely : cedar wax-wing 

 and Carolina wax-wing. The scientific name is 

 Ampelis cedrorum (Vieillot), meaning " fruit eater," 

 and " of the cedars ;" as one of the favorite foods of 

 the bird is the cedar or juniper berries so common in 

 some localities. 



The cedar bird, like many human beings, lives to 

 eat. Although an abundant species throughout the 

 State it is so capricious in its movements that its 

 presence or absence in a certain locality appears to 

 bear no relation to season or weather, the question 

 of food supply alone being probably the controlling 

 influence in its wanderings. It feeds on cherries, 

 both wild and cultivated whence its name, " cherry 

 bird" on the berries of the sour gum, dogwood, 

 bitter-sweet and pokeweed, and will often so gorge 

 itself with these as to be almost unable to fly. When- 

 ever a flock alights in a tree bearing their chosen food 

 they sit for a time motionless and erect like parrots ; 

 then, by a movement of the head, each one takes a 

 survey of his immediate surroundings, after which, one 

 by one, they proceed to the chief business of their lives. 



In spring and summer, before the ripening of the 

 fruit and berries, this bird is of great benefit to the 

 farmer, as it then devotes itself almost entirely to 



