WAXWINGS. 467 



note is uttered, but is then shriller and louder in tone. The bird sits very erect, 

 and carries its crest so that it is distinctly seen ; when frightened, it at once raises 

 its crest, slighly spreading it. A flock busy feeding on a rowan tree, especially if 

 the ground and tree are covered with snow, is a most pleasing sight ; and I have 

 often sat and watched them from a window close to which was a small mountain- 

 ash, to which they often came to feed on the berries, which latter having large 

 clusters, like bunches of coral beads, forming a rich contrast to the pure white 

 snow." Waxwings in confinement are somewhat inactive birds. Sometimes, it is 

 true, they will hop restlessly from perch to perch, or even take a brisk fly around 

 the aviary ; but for the most part they prefer to squat upon some favourite perch, 

 occasionally uttering a short succession of running notes. They feed somewhat 

 greedily, and show a preference for dried currants. During the winter months small 

 flocks of waxwings may often be seen in Southern Sweden, flying hither and thither 

 at a considerable height, and presenting somewhat the appearance of starlings, 

 from their long wings and comparatively short tails. The adult male wax wing has 

 the upper-parts generally light greyish brown ; the forehead and the crest are 

 reddish chestnut ; a broad black streak passes through and above the eye from the 

 base of the bill ; the primaries are blackish, with the outer web towards the tip 

 white on the outer feather, and yellow on the inner ones, and the inner web broadly 

 tipped with white ; the secondaries are blackish grey, tipped with red wax-like 

 appendages ; the tail is grey at the base, black towards the tip, and terminated by 

 a broad bar of yellow ; the throat is black ; and the under-parts are vinous red. 



A well-known bird in the orchards and gardens of the United 



f PflflT "RlTfl 



States is the cedar-bird, or cherry-bird (A. cedrorum), a smaller 

 species than the Bohemian waxwing, and less beautifully coloured, but still possess- 

 ing considerable interest. The cedar-bird nests somewhat late, generally building 

 in an orchard or garden ; the nest is placed in a bough, or upon a limb of the 

 tree. The nest is built of coarse, dry stalks of grass, lined with very fine stems 

 of the same. The eggs are bluish white, thickly marked with blackish spots. 

 The young are at first fed upon insects, but, as they advance, berries become their 

 chief diet. A young bird reared from the nest proved to be very impatient of 

 confinement, but when suffered to fly at large descended from the trees in which he 

 passed the day, in order to perch upon his owner's arm. The cry of the young bird 

 for food is loud and incessant. The cedar-bird flocks in July and August, and 

 betakes itself to regions in which whortleberries are plentiful, in order to gorge 

 upon the fruits. In October these birds descend to the lower parts of the country, 

 to feed upon the berries of the red cedar ; thirty or forty birds may sometimes 

 be seen fluttering among the branches of one small cedar-tree, plucking off the 

 berries. In the fall and beginning of summer the cedar-bird becomes extremely 

 fat ; hence it was formerly esteemed for the table. The adult bird has the head, 

 neck, breast, upper part of the back, and wing-coverts purplish cinnamon, shading 

 into ash on the rump ; the forehead, lores, and eye-stripe are black, the wings slaty 

 grey, with the inner feathers tipped with red horny appendages ; and the tail is 

 grey, tipped with yellow. 



II. A. MACPHERSOK 



