AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 119 



BOHEMIAN WAXWING, 



A. O. U. No. 618. (Ampelis garrulus.) 



RANGE. 



This specie is found in the northern parts of North America. It 

 breeds north of the United States and is found in winter in the two 

 northern tiers of states. Its occurrence is irregular wherever found in 

 the Republic. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Length, 7.5 inches; extent, about 12 inches; tail, 2.5 inches. Feet 

 black; eye and bill brownish, the latter shading into black at the tip. 



General color, grayish brown, the forehead and sides of head, and un- 

 der tail coverts being brighter, almost a reddish brown and the breast a 

 trifle paler than the general color. Wings and tail towards the end 

 blackish. The primaries and secondaries are tipped with white, also 

 the primary coverts in very high plumaged birds. Often the primaries 

 are broadly tipped with yellow forming a continuous line when the 

 wings are closed. The throat and a narrow line crossing at the base of 

 the bill and extending through the eye, 'black. The tail is tipped with a 

 broad band of yellow and in the best of plumage, each of the tail feath- 

 ers and also the secondaries, terminate with a red wax-like tip. 

 NEST AND EGGS. 



The Bohemian Waxwing constructs a large, well built nesrt of leaves 

 and bark and lined with grasses. It is generally located in a cedar or 

 other coniferous tree. They lay four light blue eggs that are specked 

 with dark brown. 



HABITS. 



This bird, the larger of the two Waxwings that we have in this coun- 

 try is a more brightly attired bird than the common Cedar Waxwing or 

 Cherry bird. The Waxwings are very trim appearing birds and their 

 feathers have such a soft texture that they look like silk. 



They are strong flyers but very erratic and no definite localities can 

 they be stated positively to visit during migrations. Their note is the 

 same well known lisp or hiss of the common Cedar Bird but is louder 

 in proportion to the greater size of the Bohemian. Their food is said 

 to consist of berries, or insects taken upon the wing. They generally 

 go in flocks of about a dozen individuals and appear to take pleasure in 

 sitting upright upon the tops of trees from whence they utter their sim- 

 ple and hardly noticeable ditty. 



