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AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



CEDAR BIRD, 



A. O. U. No. 619. 



(Ampelis cedrornm.> 



RANGE. 



Found through the whole of North America south of the Hudson Bay 

 territory. Breeds from about the middle of the U. S. northwards. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Length, 7.25 in.; extent, 12 in.; tail, 2.5 in. General plumage a soft 

 grayish brown. Head crested. A black stripe through the eye. Chin 

 black. Tail tipped with yellow. Secondaries sometimes tipped with a 

 peculiar vermillion waxy substance. 



NEST AND EGGS. 



Cedar Birds nest late, and rarely are full sets of their eggs found be- 

 fore the latter part of June, and often the eggs are still unhatched by 

 the end of August. They show little choice as to the kind of tree in 

 which to build their nest, and place it at heights varying from three to 

 twenty feet, as the extremes. They lay from three to five greenish 

 gray eggs that are sparingly marked with angular shaped spots of black 

 or very dark brown. 



HABITS. 



HOSE who are the fortunate pos- 

 sessors of a cherry tree in their yard 

 or garden are generally the ones 

 who are the least interested in birds 

 except with a view to exterminating 

 them. Unfortunately the Cedar 

 Bird, or "Cherry Bird," is a connoi- 

 seur of fine fruits, with a special 

 liking for ripe cherries, either wild 

 or cultivated There is no question 

 but what they destroy large quanti- 

 ties of this fruit, but it seems a pity 

 that they cannot be frightened away 

 instead of slaughtered by thousands 

 as they are every year. 



In the spring and fall Cedar Birds 

 vary their fruit diet and destroy 

 large numbers of insects, particular- 

 ly the canker worm that annually 

 works such destruction in the apple 

 Photo from life by c. A. Smith. orchards. Exccpt during the nest- 



