NATURAL HISTORY. 



265 



Family IV. ... Ampelidse. 



Sub-family a. . . Ampelince. 



AMPELIS. (Gr. 'A/^TreAif.) 



Garrulus (Lat. chattering), the Bohemian Waxwing. 



The BOHEMIAN WAXWING or WAXEN CHATTERER is only 

 occasionally seen in England during severe frosts,* at which 

 time flocks of them sometimes arrive. It is very common in 

 Norway and Russia, and is plentiful in North America. The 

 name of Waxwing is given to it from the singular appendages 

 to the secondary quill feathers, bearing much resemblance to 

 a drop of red sealing-wax pressed on the wing. 



Berries of all kinds, especially those of the dog-rose and the 

 hawthorn, form the principal food of this bird, but it is related 

 that when in captivity it rejects scarcely any vegetable sub- 

 stance, losing at the same time all its vivacity and social 

 habits. The note of the Waxwing is not unlike that of the 

 thrush, but it is very weak and more uncertain than the notes 

 of that beautiful songster. While singing it agitates the 



* A specimen was shot in Oxford in 1846. 

 M 



