AMPELLID.E. 133 



no signature. There was also a note in the ' Taun- 

 ton Courier' for January 15, 1868, of the Waxen 

 Chatterer having been shot near Chard : I have, 

 however, some doubt about it, as it was described as 

 being like a Jay. 



This bird has probably been found in this county 

 at other times, although its capture has not been 

 recorded. It is an occasional winter visitor to 

 England, sometimes in considerable numbers, and 

 has been killed in almost every county, including 

 the neighbouring counties of Devon and Cornwall. 



During their occasional visits to England these 

 birds are said to feed on the berries of the mountain 

 ash, hawthorn and ivy : when berries are scarce they 

 are said to feed on insects, catching them in the 

 same manner as Flycatchers. 



The following description is taken from Yarrell : 

 " The beak is almost black, but light brown on the 

 edges near the base ; the irides dark red ; the fore- 

 head reddish chestnut; the feathers on the top of 

 the head a broccoli-brown and elongated, forming a 

 crest ; over the base of the upper mandible, on the 

 lore round the eye, and passing backwards round the 

 occiput on the back part of the crest, an elongated 

 circle of black ; nape of the neck light broccoli-brown, 

 becoming darker on the back, scapulars and small 

 wing-coverts ; the coverts of the primaries black, 

 tipped with white ; primaries and secondaries black, 

 with an elongated patch of straw-yellow at the end of 



N 



