WAX WINGS. 



465 



and form a single genus, Ampelis. The metatarsus is short ; the feet are weak ; 

 and the inner quills of the wings are tipped with curious red horny appendages, 

 compared to pieces of sealing-wax. The Bohemian waxwing inhabits the northern 

 parts of the Old and New Worlds; the Japanese waxwing breeds in South- 

 Eastern Siberia, and winters in Japan, China, and Formosa ; while a third 

 species, the cedar-bird, is peculiar to North America. Great interest for many 

 years attached to the nesting -habits of the Bohemian waxwing (A. garrulus), 

 which were surrounded by mystery until solved by Messrs. Dresser and Wolley. 

 The former of these ornithologists found the waxwing breeding in Finland in 



BOHEMIAN WAXWING (J nat. size). 



the year 1858, only two years after the latter had obtained the nest of a waxwing 

 in Lapland. 



Writing of his nest-hunting experiences, Mr. Dresser says that, after finding a 

 tree in which a waxwing built, " I climbed up to the nest, which was in the fork 

 between the main stem and the first branch, and not above nine or ten feet from 

 the ground. The moment I touched it, the young ones (five in number) flew out. 

 I jumped down, and made a cut at the largest with my cap, and secured him. 

 Directly the young one which I had caught began to cry out, several waxwings 

 flew from the neighbouring thicket, all, however, keeping out of gunshot, except two 



VOL. in. 30 



