244 Birds of Buzzard's Roost 



ter systemists also include in it the phainopepla, a bird of 

 Mexico and southern Texas. Like the shrikes, the first-named 

 waxwing is a bird of the far north and the other of the south. 

 Both have the same general appearance and characteristics. 

 Of the two, the Bohemian is the largest. 



The general color of the cedar waxwing is a reddish olive, 

 changing to cinnamon anteriorly, ashy behind and yellowish 

 below. The bill is short, broad at the base, compressed, notched 

 at the tip and black. Forehead, chin and stripe through the 

 eye black, the latter bordered above with white ; base of fore- 

 head also white. Iris of the eye hazel. The wings are broad 

 and pointed, the secondaries having red wax-like tips from 

 which it gets its name of wax-wing. Tail blackish toward the 

 end and tipped with yellow, and sometimes with red wax-like 

 tips. Tarsus short, toes long and both black ; claws curved 

 and sharp. The entire plumage is of a remarkably fine and 

 silky texture and lies extremely close to the body. The male 

 and female are alike in appearance and both are crested. 



The cedar waxwing is variously called the cedar bird, 

 cherry bird, Quaker bird and Recollet. It gets its distinguish- 

 ing names cedar and cherry from its fondness for the fruit of 

 the cedar and cherry trees ; Quaker bird, because of its modest 

 colors and quiet and dignified manners ; and Recollet from 

 the color of its crest, which resembles the hood of a French 

 religious order of that name. It is an irregular migrant whose 

 range extends from Honduras and Jamaica north to Labrador. 

 The average dates of its migrations do not seem to be well 

 established. Except when nesting they are gregarious and 

 rove over the country in flocks, some of which are very large. 



One of the most beautiful sights that I have seen was a 

 flock of about five hundred of these birds in the latter part of 

 February, feeding on hackberries on North Meridian Street 

 in the City of Indianapolis. There was an abundance of fruit 

 upon the large trees in that locality and the flock lingered for 

 several days feeding upon it. This gave me a good opportu- 

 nity to observe them. I had read in the books about their 

 polite way of passing food from one to another and of their 

 billing and kissing each other, but had thought that what had 

 been written were largely fancy sketches based upon imagin- 



