I50 PROCEEDINGS MANCHESTER INSTITUTE 



cavated sand pit, but after a single season desert the locality 

 altogether. I have often observed the same thing in various 

 places and attribute it to a change in the texture of the sand 

 near the face of the cut due to the drying out of the water on 

 the newly-exposed front, so that it would cave in more readily 

 if a burrow were dug. 

 Dates : May to August 24. 



195. Ampelis garriiliis Linn. Bohemian Waxwing. 

 An extremely rare winter visitant. This bird is frequently 



reported by amateur observers, who, as their judgment grows 

 with later experience, are led to expunge their record. There 

 appears at present to be no valid published record for the occur- 

 rence of this species in the state, but Dr. W. H. Fox informs me 

 that in the early part of 1880, O. H. Phillips, a taxidermist, 

 took specimens near Nashua. Mr. W. E. Cram writes me he 

 has observed it at Hampton Falls on February 17 and 21, 1897, 



196, Ampelis cedroruni (Vieill.). Cedar Waxwing. 

 A common spring and fall migrant and summer resident ; 



rarely wintering in the southeastern portion of the state. Al- 

 though these birds breed mainly in the open Transition and 

 sub- Canadian regions, they are great wanderers, and small 

 flocks of from 3 to 6 birds are not infrequently observed during 

 summer crossing the Presidential range, or stopping for a few 

 moments at the higher levels, as at Carter Lakes (3,360 feet), 

 and Halfway House (3,840 feet), to pass on again shortly. In 

 the White Mountain valleys they nest about the middle of July, 

 and the young are soon on the wing. During September the}^ 

 quickly gather into large flocks about the wild cherry trees, 

 preparatory to migrating southward. Mr.- Ned Dearborn (: 00) 

 records that a flock of ten birds wintered at Durham during the 

 season of 1 899-1900, a circumstance which appears to be quite 

 unusual. In eastern Massschusetts there is regularly a w^ave of 

 northbound migrants about the end of January, this movement 

 lasting into March, after which there comes a second wave in 

 late May. Apparently this first wave has spent its energy by 

 the time it reaches central New Hampshire. Rarely this first 



