THE GREAT WAXWING INVASION OF 1 92 1 199 



time the areas most prolific in their yield of wild fruits such 

 as the Waxwings delighted in. 



Further, it is interesting to note that the presence of 

 food-supply interfered locally with the general southward 

 movement which brought the Waxwings to Britain ; for 

 their wanderings often carried them westward as well as 

 southward. Indeed, the food-search temporarily dominated 

 the general southward tendency. A valuable observation 

 in this respect was made by Mr Chas. H. Akroyd of 

 Duncraggie, Brora, who first noted a flock of fourteen in the 

 neighbourhood of Brora, Sutherland, on 25th November. He 

 wrote, on 30th December : " I followed their movements for 

 about a fortnight [from 25th November till 9th December] ; 

 they moved about five miles N.E., then back in the opposite 

 direction for two miles, when they disappeared entirely." 

 Probably they moved southward, for although there are no 

 later records from Sutherland or Ross, there are many later 

 records from counties which lie on a possible southern track, 

 Moray, Banffshire, Aberdeenshire, Perthshire, and so on. 



The notion that, in spite of local and temporary aberra- 

 tions, the general and ultimate tendency was to move 

 southward, is strengthened by a consideration of the facts 

 bearing on the duration of the Waxwings' stay in Britain, 

 discussed in a succeeding paragraph. 



Food of the Waxwhigs in Britain. — The food of the 

 Waxwing is said by Dresser to consist in summer in their 

 native haunts of various species of insects and of berries, 

 especially those of Juniper, and in winter of berries only, 

 largely Rowan. In view of this statement, it is of interest 

 to record the preferences shown by the birds of the 192 1 

 immigration in Britain. 



With two exceptions, when they were seen on a road 

 near Scarborough, and were actually observed elsewhere 

 by Mr Geo. Bolam picking at road droppings, their food 

 consisted solely of wild fruits. Of these the favourite, so 

 far as numbers go, was clearly the hips of Roses, for of some 

 forty food records before me, twenty-one refer to rose-hips. 

 The majority naturally refer to the Wild Rose, but there are 

 scattered records from the Sweet-briar, the Penzance Briar, 



