5 
‘The winter of 1866-67 will long be remembered by British ornithologists as one of the great 
Waxwing-seasons. The whole year 1866 (the year of the cattle-plague) was wet, the mild 
winter at each end being scarcely distinguishable from the cold summer between. On New 
Year’s day frost and heavy snow set in. Early in November great numbers of the Bohemian 
Waxwing made their appearence. The largest flocks were seen in Norfolk. North of that 
county many birds were shot at Scarborough, Newcastle, Berwick, up to Aberdeen and Inverness, 
and southward as far as Dover and Rye. I was fortunate enough to meet with a small party of 
these interesting strangers as 1 was walking down the Glossop Road to business into Sheffield, 
on the morning of the 29th of December. My attention was arrested by three or four birds 
which flew across the road and alighted in a laburnum tree in Miss Ray’s gardens. I imagined 
from their flight that they must be Starlings; but, fancying they showed white marks on the 
wing, I had the curiosity to cross over the road to get a nearer view of them. ‘The tree on which 
they had alighted was only a few yards from the road, and I watched them over the wall for some 
time. I recognized them at once by their crests. The yellow markings on the wings and tail 
were very conspicuous, and I fancied I could distinguish the red wax-like appendages. ‘They 
were very active, putting themselves in all sorts of positions, and did not seem at all disturbed 
by my scrutiny; and when at last they flew away, and I turned round to continue my walk, I 
found that quite a small crowd had collected behind me, one of whom (probably a Sheffield 
grinder, and consequently well up in Pigeons and Dogs) volunteered the information that they 
were French Starlings. I sent a short notice of the appearance of these illustrious visitors in our 
town to one of the local papers; and the following day more than one gentleman assured me that 
their children were confident that they had seen birds agreeing with my description in Broomhall 
Park within the last day or two; and on the 31st two specimens were shot there by the gardener 
of Mr. Willis Dixon ; so that it is probable that the flock continued in the neighbourhood for some 
days.” As previously stated, the Waxwing occurs with us during the winter; but Mr. Stevenson 
refers to one, recorded by Mr. Gurney, as having been killed near Norwich on the 20th of April, 
and he saw a specimen which was killed near North Walsham as late as the first week of May 
1853. In Ireland it is recorded by Thompson as an occasional, but rare, winter visitant; and he 
refers to two instances of its occurrence in the county of Belfast, and one in the county Cork. It 
has occurred in the Feroe Islands. Captain Feilden tells me that Waxwings were seen on the 
3rd of November, 1852, in the Governor’s garden at Thorshavn; and Mr. H. C. Miiller informed 
him that a pair were observed in the same place on the 29th of October, 1866. 
In Scandinavia the Waxwing is common, being found in the summer season in the forests of 
Lapland, and during the winter spread all over the central and southern portions of the country. 
As below stated, my friend Mr. R. Collett has found it breeding in the north of Norway, and 
believes that it likewise occasionally breeds in the woods of Southern Norway. He informs me 
that “in the neighbourhood of Christiania they sometimes stay as late as April (in 1860 the last 
were seen on the 4th, in 1867 on the 21st, in 1869 on the 8th of that month). They were 
uncommonly numerous in the winters of 1866-67 and 1871-72, particularly in the month of 
January 1872, when they appeared in immense flocks, consisting of thousands of individuals, 
and were brought in cart-loads to the game-market of Christiania. The plentiful supply of 
rowan-berries sufficiently accounted for their numbers.” 
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