THE WAXWING 



AMPELIS GARRULUS 



LOCAL names in surrounding counties : 



STATUS IN BRITISH AVIFAUNA : An irregular and no- 

 madic winter migrant. It is most frequently met with 

 in the eastern counties, and rarest in Ireland. 



RADIAL DISTRIBUTION WITHIN FIFTEEN MILES OF ST. 

 PAUL'S : A special local interest attaches to the Waxwing, 

 for a specimen shot at Camberwell in 1803 was the sub- 

 ject for the figure given by Graves in his British Ornitho- 

 logy, which contained a coloured representation of every 

 then known species of British bird. Since those days 

 the Waxwing has continued to pay irregular and un- 

 certain visits to the Metropolis, where it has been shot 

 or noticed in a great many districts. It is one of those 

 species of which little need be said concerning its 

 abnormal distribution within the Metropolitan area. 

 Winters may pass and not an example may be observed ; 

 then may come a season when the erratic bird may visit 

 us in extraordinary numbers, as was the case in 1830-31, 

 1834-35, 1849-50, 1866-67, 1872. During the latter 

 visitation London was exceptionally visited. Localities 

 are no more favoured, and the Waxwing may quite unex- 

 pectedly appear in almost any part of the Metropolis 

 sufficiently wooded to afford it a resting-place. 



This is another species the habits of which do not 

 require to be dealt with in much detail here. The 

 Waxwing is everywhere a wandering, erratic species, and 

 seldom breeds in the same localities for two successive 

 years. Its habits are by no means perfectly known. It 

 is more or less gregarious and social, even during summer, 

 and its actions are lively and engaging. Its food con- 

 sists of berries, small fruits, and insects. Its notes are 

 described as similar to the call of the Blue Titmouse, 

 194 



