JUNE BIRDS. 77 



I must not omit to mention, also, the 

 beautiful and familiar cedar-bird, or cherry- 

 bird (ampelis cedrorum), unmusical though 

 lie be. This bird, like that rare winter 

 visitant, the Bohemian chatterer, belongs 

 to the family of waxwings, so called from 

 a horny appendage, like sealing-wax, on 

 the tips of their wings. The cedar-bird is 

 very uncertain in its movements and migra- 

 tions, which are apparently independent of 

 the weather, and flocks of them are often 

 seen in mid-winter along the city streets, 

 feeding on the buds of the cedar-tree. 



The last bird which I shall mention in 

 these papers is the little spotted sandpiper 

 (tringoides macularius). He is the only 

 representative of a large family that stays 

 with us to breed, and is found on the 

 shores of every body of water in New 

 England. He makes his appearance as 

 early as the first week in April, or as soon 

 as the ice breaks up in our rivers and 

 ponds, and. his p ecu liar peet- weet, peet-weet, 

 which is heard all through the season, is 

 easily recognized. 



