294 BIEDS — AMPELID^. 



is very complicated and formal, to judge from the number of times they 

 alight and rise again, all the while keeping up a noisy chatter. It is 

 not until twiiight deepens into evening that all are huddled together in 

 silence and slumber, and their slumbers are often disturbed by some 

 youngster who falls out of bed, amid the derisive laughter of his neigh- 

 bors, which is changed to petulant scolding as he clambers over them to 

 his perch, tumbling others down. All at once the scene of last night's 

 disturbance is quiet and deserted, for the birds have flown to unknown 

 southern lands, where they find less crowded beds, and shorter, warmer 

 nights. 



FAMILY AMPELID.^. THE CHATTERERS. 



Primaries ten, the first less than half the second. Basal joint of middle toe not shorter 

 than that of inner toe; united to the outer for about two-thirds, to the inner for about 

 one-half, its length. Tarsus not longer than middle toe and elaw. Gonys less than half 

 the length of under jaw. Bill triangular, much depressed at base, moderately notched, 

 and hooked at tip. 



Sub-family Ampelin^. Waxwings. 



Nostrils linear, more or less covered by frontal feathers. Wiugs long, acute, with ten 

 primaries, but the first very short a,ud displaced (ou the outer side of the second), so as 

 to be readily overlooked. Inner quills as a rule, and sometimes the tail feathers, tipped 

 with horny appendages, like red sealing-wax. Tail short, square, the under coverts 

 highly developed, reaching nearly to its end. Feet weak; tarsus shorter than middle 

 toe and claw. 



Genus AMPELIS. Linnaeus. 



Head with a well developed broad soft crest. 



Ampelis gaerulus Linnaeus. 



33oh.enai£iii "Wasw-ing. 



Sombydlla garrula, Kirtland, Am. Journ. Sci. and Arts, xl. 1841, 20. — Stoker, Proc. 

 Best. Soc. Nat. Hist., ii, 184.5, 52.— Eead, Fam. Visitor, iii, 1S53, 343; Proc. Phila. 

 Acad. Nat. Sci., vi, 1853, .397. 



Ampelis garrulus, Baird, P. E. K. Rep., ix, 1858, 317. — Kirkpatrick, Ohio Farmer, viii, 

 1859, 339.— Whkaton, Ohio Agtic. Rep. for 1860, 1861, 364, 374; Reprint, 6; Food 

 of Birds, etc., Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1874, 1875, 56.'); Reprint, 5. — Baird, Bkewek 

 and RiDGWAY, N. A. Birds, i, 1874, 397.— Coues, Birds of Col. Val., 1878, 461, 467. 



Bohemian Wax wing, Kiutland, Am. Journ. Sci. and Arts, xiii, 1852, 218; Ohio Farmer, 

 ix, 1860, 91. 



Ampelis garrulus, LiNNiEas, Syst. Nat., i, 1758. 

 Bombycilla garrula, ViEiLLOT, Enoy. Meth., ii, 1823, 766. 



General color brownish ash, shading insensibly from the clear ash of the tail and its 

 upper coverts and rump into a reddish- tinged ash anteriorly, this peculiar tint height- 

 ening on the head, especially on the forehead and sides of the head, into orange-brown. 



