THE CEDAK BIRD. 



365 



The flesh of this bird is held in great estimation in the countries where it appears in 

 greatest numbers, and in Norway it is regularly killed and exposed for sale at the average 

 price of one penny. 



A CLOSELY allied species is found in America, where it has been taken for a variety 

 of the preceding species, but is clearly distinct from that bird. On account of its fondness 

 for cedar berries, it goes by the popular name of the CEDAR BIED, or CHATTEKEK, the 

 latter name being not at all appropriate to this species, as it is one of the most silent of birds, 

 not even raising its voice in the season of love. 



This bird is found in different parts of America, migrating to and fro according to the 

 season of year. Wilson tells us that in the months of July and August it associates 

 together in great flocks, and retires to the hilly parts of the Blue Mountains for the purpose 



CEDAtt B1KD. 'Ampells aedroram 



of feeding on the whortleberries which grow in those localities so plentifully that the 

 mountains are covered with them for miles. In October they descend to the lower parts 

 of the country, and there feed on various berries, especially those of the red cedar, which 

 they devour so greedily that no less than fifteen cedar berries have been found in the throat 

 of a single bird. They also eat the fruit of the persimmon, cherries, and many other 

 fruits, and aid greatly in the vegetation of the country by transporting to different 

 localities the seeds of the plants on which they subsist. 



Unlike the Waxen Chatterer, the Cedar Bird carries with it no mystery respecting its 

 dwelling-place, but openly builds in the month of June upon various trees, sometimes 

 choosing the cedar, and at other times fixing on different orchard trees. 



Wilson makes the following remarks upon the nest and general habits of the bird 

 during the breeding season. " The nest is large for the size of the bird, fixed in the 

 forked or horizontal branch of an apple tree, ten or twelve feet from the ground ; 

 outwardly and at bottom is laid a mass of coarse, dry stalks of grass, and the inside 

 is lined wholly with very fine stalks of the same material. The eggs are three or four, of 

 a dingy bluish white, thick at the great end, tapering suddenly, and becoming very narrow 

 at the other ; marked with small roundish spots of black of various sizes and shades, and 

 the great end is of a pale dull purple tinge, marked likewise with various shades of purple 

 and black. About the last week in June the young are hatched, and are at first fed on 

 insects and their larvae, but as they advance in growth, on berries of various kinds. These 

 facts I have myself been an eye-witness to. 



