BIRDS OP FERGUS COUNTY, MONTANA 61 



large trees along the creek near Mr. von Tobel's residence in Lewistown, 

 from which they sally out in irregular troops to feed in the adjacent clumps 

 cf rose bushes. 



This waxwing appears along the streams in the late fall. October 

 29, 1898, was a beautiful autumn day. Waxwings in numbers were fre- 

 quenting the higher trees of the creekside above Lewistown, flitting rest- 

 lessly about and uttering their plaintive lisping chirp. They were con- 

 tinually fluttering upward or outward from the tree-tops, hovering in air 

 like kingbirds capturing insects a-wing. Their aerial movements were 

 much like those of swallows over water, as they sailed, fluttered, or 

 hovered with expanded tail, or mounted obliquely upward with rapidly 

 beating wings. Frequently a crowded company of them would fly out- 

 ward from some tree in which they had been sitting, keeping together 

 in undulating flight, veering abruptly upward or downward or sidewise 

 in capricious evolution. In alighting they seemed partial to the tops of 

 bare deciduous trees, though numbers alighted in the sheltering tops of the 

 pines. From the conifers of the hillsides bordering the road, individuals 

 would sally out over the highway, greedily taking insects on the wing. 

 In one part of the road a brood of gnats was arising, and there the wax- 

 wings hovered most frequently. Occasionally when flitting onward an in- 

 dividual would dart obliquely several feet, then wheel and flutter downward 

 like the red-headed woodpecker in taking its insect fare a-wing. In all 

 their movements the waxwings reminded me of the tree swallows in num- 

 bers, some alighting for a few moments, others wheeling in air in irregular, 

 capricious evolutions. 



Distinguishing features: Crown with a long pointed crest; upper 

 parts grayish brown; tail tipped with yellow; secondaries of wings tipped 

 with bright red, like sealing wax; under tail coverts cinnamon brown, by 

 which it can be distinguished from the cedar waxwing; forehead and sides 

 of head like under tail coverts; length 8-9 inches. 



619. CEDAR WAXWING. Ampelis cedrorum. 



A regular summer resident, appearing later than most of the other 

 summer birds, and lingering later in the fall. During the middle summer 

 it is an expert insect catcher, taking them on the wing like the kingbird 

 and other flycatchers. Later it feeds on the berries which grow in pro- 

 fusion along the streams and in the coulees of the foothills. 



Distinguishing features: Prominent crest of long pointed feathers; 

 upper parts grayish brown; secondaries tipped with bright red; tail tipped 

 with yellow; under tail coverts white, by which it can always be distin- 

 guished from the Bohemian waxwing; length about 7 inches. 

 621. NORTHERN SHRIKE. Lanlus borealis. 



A regular winter visitor in this region. On Feb. 2, 1902, a shrike was 

 seen in Lewistown toward evening, sitting on a telephone pole. As I ap- 

 proached to observe it more closely, it flew to another similar position 

 nearby. Upcn being again disturbed, it flew away over the town out of 

 view. 



On March 22, 1902, a shrike was observed hunting in the thicket 



