3 io ANNALS OF BIRD LIFE. 



times a more rigorous winter than usual drives 

 these gipsies southwards in greater numbers, and 

 then they pay their uncertain visits to us in flocks 

 or " rushes." This is especially the case with the 

 Waxwing and the Shore Lark. The habits 

 and geographical distribution of these northern 

 strangers well merit a special chapter in the 

 winter annals of our British birds. 



First upon our list is the Waxwing. This 

 remarkably handsome bird is allied on the one 

 hand to the Starlings, and on the other to the 

 Shrikes ; most probably its affinities are nearest 

 to the latter birds. The geographical distribution, 

 of the Waxwing is as yet but imperfectly known. 

 There is, however, little or no evidence to show 

 that the range of this bird is circumpolar ; it is 

 one of the few Old World species that have 

 extended their habitat into North America by 

 way of Behring Strait. The breeding range of 

 the Waxwing is practically confined to the region 

 of pine woods near the Arctic circle in Europe 

 and Asia. As before stated, winter home this 

 bird has none. Its wanderings in the cold 

 season extend southwards into Central Europe, 

 Turkestan, South Siberia, Mongolia, China, and 

 Japan. The well-known but much smaller Cedar 

 Bird of America is the Waxwing's nearest ally 

 and its New World representative ; but in Japan- 

 it is replaced by a beautiful species, remarkable 

 in having the tail tipped with red instead of 

 yellow, and the wax-like appendages on the shaft 



