AMPELID.E— THE CHATTERERS. 4()3 



irregularity that I have fouiul them sitting on their unhatched eggs as late 

 as the I2lh ol' (Jctoljer. They are a greedy bird, feeding voruuiously where 

 they have an opixjrtunity. They are very nv.ieh attached to ea ;h other and 

 to tlieir oil'spring. Once, when one liad been taken in a net spread over 

 strawberries, its mate reliiseil to leave it, sulVered itself to be taken l)y the 

 hand, in its anxiety to free its mate, and when set at liberty would not leave 

 until its mate had also been released and ])ermitted to go with it. In the 

 summer of 1870 a nestling, hardly half Hedged, fell from its nest, and was 

 found injured by its fall, taken into the house, and fed. Whenever exposed 

 in its cage its parents came about it, and supjjlied it with cherries and other 

 fruit, unmindful of tiie near presence of the family. The young bird lived, 

 and became perfectly tame, feeding from the hand, and preferring to be fed 

 rather than feed itself, liesides its low lisping call, tiiis bird had a regular 

 faint attempt at a song of several low notes, uttered in so lo^v a tone that it 

 would be almost inaiulible at even a short distance. It became jjerfectly 

 contented in contiuemeut, and appi;ared i'ond of such members of the family 

 as noticed it. 



The noticeable feature of tlie Cedar-Bird, its crest, it has the power to 

 erect or depress at will. In confinement it generally keeps this depressed, 

 only erecting it when excited from any cause, such as alarm, or desire to 

 receive food. 



Wilson states that in Pennsyhauia they collect in August in large flocks 

 and retire to the mountains, feeding on the fruit of the Vacciniitm uJirji- 

 nosum, which grows there in great abundance. Later in the season they 

 descend to the lowlands to feed on the berries of the sour-gum and the red- 

 cedar. In confinement they are very fond of apples, bread soaked in milk, 

 and almost any kind of soft food. They are also very fond of flies, and are 

 expert flycatchers, snapping at all that venture within tiie cage. 



In their migrations their flight is graceful, easy, and continued, and is per- 

 formed at a considerable height. 



It is unfortunntt! for the liorticulturist tliat this bird has done so much to 

 merit his prejudices and reprobation, anil t! .,'. lie does not apjireciate to the 

 full the innnense services it renders to him each spring in the destruction 

 of injurious insects. A flock of these birds will, in a short space of time, 

 devour an immense numlxM- of the larva^ of the destructive canker-worms 

 {P/mfaiio') that infest tlie a])ples and elms of Massachusetts, and, if ])er- 

 mitted, would soon greatly reduce their numbers. lUit these prejudices can- 

 not be softened by their good deeds, and the Cherry-Bird is still hunted and 

 destroyed. 



Their nests are usually constructed late ii\ June or eiirly in July, and are 

 placed in various positions, sometimes in a low bush or tree not more than 

 three or four feet from the ground, and rarely more than twenty. Their 

 nests are large and bidky, but strongly made nf various materials. Gener- 

 ally tliey build a strong external framework, six or seven inches iu diameter, 



