﻿Common Birds in Relation to Agriculture. 517 



THE CEDAR BIRD. 



( Ampelis cedrorum.) 



The cedar waxwing, or cherry bird, inhabits the whole 

 of the United States, but it is much less common in the 

 West. Although the great bulk of the species retires 

 southward in winter, the bird is occasionally found in 

 every State during the colder months, especially if wild 

 berries are abundant. Its proverbial fondness for cherries 

 has given rise to its popular name, and much complaint 

 has been made on account of the fruit eaten. Observation 

 has shown, however, that its depredations are confined to 

 trees on which the fruit ripens earliest, while later varie- 

 ties are completely untouched. This is probably owing 

 to the fact that when wild fruits ripen they are preferred 

 to cherries, and really constitute the bulk of the cedar 

 bird's diet. 



In 152 stomachs examined animal matter formed only 

 13 and vegetable 87 per cent., showing that the bird is not 

 wholly a fruit eater. With the exception of a few snails, 

 all the animal food consisted of insects, mainly beetles — 

 and all but one more or less noxious, the famous elm leaf- 

 beetle being among the number. Bark or scale lice were 

 found in several stomachs, while the remainder of the 

 animal food was made up of grasshoppers, bugs and the 

 like. Three nestlings were found to have been fed almost 

 entirely on insects. 



Of the 87 per cent, of vegetable food, 74 consisted 

 entirely of wild fruit or seeds and 13 of cultivated fruit, 

 but a large part of the latter was made up of blackberries 

 and raspberries, and it is very doubtful whether they 

 represented cultivated varieties. Cherry stealing is the 

 chief complaint against this bird, but of the 152 stomachs 

 only 9, all taken in June and July, contained any remains 

 of cultivated cherries, and these aggregate but 5 per cent, 

 of the year's food. As 41 stomachs were collected in 



