BIRDS AND ALL NATURE. 



ILLUSTRATED BY COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY. 



Vol. V. 



MAY, 1899. 



No. 5 



THE CEDAR WAXWING. 



( A tupelis cedroruni . ) 



LYNDS JONES. 



THERE is no more beautiful bird 

 in our northern states, if there 

 be in the whole country, than 

 our waxvving. Many birds are 

 more gorgeously appareled, and with 

 many there are more striking contrasts 

 exhibited, but nowhere do we encoun- 

 ter a texture more delicate covering a 

 bearing more courtly. One despairs of 

 adequately describing the silky soft- 

 ness of the plumage and the beautiful 

 shades of color. But the perfecting of 

 color photography has made that task 

 unnecessary. We may wonder why 

 some crested birds have this regal in- 

 signia bestowed upon them by nature, 

 but it would be impossible to think of 

 the waxwing without his crowning 

 glory. Not less characteristic are the 

 horny appendages resembling red seal- 

 ing wax attached to the secondary wing 

 feathers and sometimes also to the tail 

 feathers. They seem to be outgrowths 

 of the tip of the shaft. These, with the 

 yellow-tipped tail, form the only bright 

 colors in the plumage. 



The cedar waxwings are gregarious, 

 except during the breeding-season, wan- 

 dering about the country in flocks of a 

 dozen individuals, more or less, stop- 

 ping for any considerable time only 

 where food is plentiful. Their wander- 

 ing propensities make their presence a 

 very uncertain quantity at any season 

 of the year. During the whole of 1898 

 they were present in considerable num- 

 bers at Oberlin, Ohio, nesting in or- 

 chards and shade trees plentifully, but 

 thus far in 1899 very few have been 

 seen. No doubt their presence is not 

 suspected even when they may be nu- 

 merous, because they do not herald 

 their appearance with aloud voice nor 

 with whistling wing. Their voice ac- 



cords perfectly with their attire, their 

 manners are quiet and unassuming, and 

 their flight is well-nigh noiseless. One 

 moment the flock is vaulting through 

 the air in short bounds, the next its 

 members are perched in a treetop with 

 erected crests at attention. If all is 

 quiet without cause for suspicion, the 

 flock begins feeding upon the insect 

 pests, if they are in season; upon the 

 fruit, if that is in season. So compact 

 is the flock, both in flight and while 

 resting, that nearly every member 

 might be taken at a single shot. The 

 birds are so unsuspicious that they can 

 easily be approached, thus presenting 

 a tempting prize to the small hunter 

 who may design the beautiful plumage 

 for some hat decoration. 



In common with the goldfinch, the 

 waxwings are late breeders, making 

 their nests in June, July, and August. 

 They seem to prefer rather small trees 

 and low ones, nesting in orchard trees 

 and in ornamental shrubbery as well as 

 in shade trees. The nest is not usually 

 an elaborate affair, but rather loosely 

 made of twigs, grass, rootlets, and 

 leaves, often lined with grapevine 

 bark, thus hinting that the species has 

 sprung from an original tropical stock, 

 which necessarily makes its nest as cool 

 and airy as practicable. The eggs are 

 unique among the smaller ones, in their 

 steely bluish-gray ground, rather evenly 

 overlaid with dots and scratches of 

 dark brown or black, thus presenting 

 an aggressiveness out of all harmony 

 with the birds. But the peculiar colors 

 and pattern aid greatly in rendering 

 the eggs inconspicuous in the nest, as 

 anyone may prove by noticing them as 

 they lie on their bed of rootlets or 

 leaves. They are usually four in num- 



