466 



PERCHING BIRDS. 



which came close round me, and both of which I shot. I then sat down and imitated 

 as well as I could the call of the old birds. I was soon rewarded for my trouble by 

 a young one coming out of a blueberry bush, close by, and calling lustily. I then 

 climbed up again and took the nest away carefully, so as to preserve the shape, 

 and to my great delight found one egg in it. We hunted for several hours in the 

 higher part of the island for another nest, but, although we saw about nine old 

 birds, we didn't succeed in finding another nest." The eggs of the waxwing are 

 pale blue, marked with purplish underlying shell-markings and black overlying 

 surface-spots. In certain winters large numbers of waxwings cross the North Sea 

 to winter in the British Isles, where, unfortunately, their pretty plumage and 

 strange appearance mark them as a certain prey of the loafing gunner. In its 

 habits the waxwing is confiding and tame, though much less so in the spring and 



A FLOCK OF WAXWINGS. 



summer than in the winter. " At the latter season of the year," writes Mr. Dresser, 

 " I used to see large flocks in Southern Finland, usually frequenting the mountain- 

 ash trees, and very often seen in the gardens quite in the centre of the towns. So 

 tame are they that, when fired at, and one or two killed, the remainder will only fly 

 to a short distance, and soon return to the same tree again. The flocks are often 

 very large ; and I have known of more than twenty specimens having been killed 

 at one shot ; I once killed as many as fourteen at a shot off a large mountain-ash 

 tree, on which a flock was perched picking off the berries. It is a peculiarly 

 silent bird ; and I watched a flock for some time without hearing any of them 

 uttering a sound. The only note I have heard is a low plaintive whistle, from 

 which, I imagine, it is called by the Finns by the name of tilhi, as this gives some 

 idea of the sound of its call-note. When frightened, or suddenly disturbed, the same 



