296 • BIEDS — AMPELIDJS. 



men, measuring .90 by .65 of an inch. Its ground is more of a greenish -slate or stone- 

 color, and the spots are of a dark-brown, with a deep violet shading." {Brewer, 1. o.) 



Ampelis cedrorum (V.) Gray. 



Cedar Bird ; Oherry DBird, 



Bombj/cilla carolinenais, Kirtland, Ohio Geolog. Rep,, 1833, 162. — Rkad, Fam. Visitor, 



iii, ISry.i, 343; Proc. Phila. Adad. Nat. Sci., vi, 1853, 395. 

 Ampelis oedrorum, BaisA), P. R. E. K«p., is, 1858, 318. — Kirkpatrick, Ohio Farmer, viii, 



1839, 317.— Wheaton, Ohio Agrio. Rep. for 1860, 1861, 364 ; Reprint, 6 ; in Cones' 



Birds of N. W., 1874, 233; Food of Birds, etc., Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1874, 1875, 565; 



Reprint, 5. — Langdon, Cat. Birds of Cin., 1877, 7; Revised List, Jcurn. Gin. Soc. 



Nut. Hist., i, 1879, 174; Reprint, 8. v 



Cedar Bird, Ballou, Field and Forest, iii, 1878, 136. 



BomhycUla carolinensis, Brisson, Oru., ii, 1760, 337. (Not binomial.) 

 Bombi/ciila cedrorum, Vieillot, Ois. Am. Sept., i, 1807, 88. 

 Ampelis cedrorum, Gray, Gen. of Birds, i, 1849, 278. 



General color as garrulus. Under tail-coverts whitish; little or no orang*- brown 

 about head; no white on wings; chin biack, shading gradually into the coloi f the 

 throat ; a black frontal, loral and transooular stripe .is in garrulus, bnt this bordered on 

 the forehead with whitish; a white touch on lower eyelid; feathers on side of lower 

 jaw white; abdomen soiled yellowish; tail tipped with yeUow. Leiagth, 7-7-J; wing, 

 about 3f 



• Habitat, North America at large, to latitude 54° N. or beyond ; south through Mexico 

 and Central America. Bermudas. Jamaica. Cuba. Accidental in England. 



Usually abundant resident. Breeds. The Cedar Bird, or Cherry Bird, 

 as it is generally called in Ohio, though classed among the resident 

 birds, is named as resident only from the fact that it appears at any time 

 during the year. Usually more of them are to be seen in the month of 

 May than at other times, when they appear in close flocks of usually 

 from 20 to 50. At this time their food is "insects, and they display ex- 

 cellent qualities as fly-catchers, flying farther from their perch to secure 

 their prey than any other bird of fly-catching habits, except the Swal- 

 lows. Their flight is easy, undulating, and swift, and the whole flock 

 moves as if by the impulse of a single will. Their note is a short 

 wheezy whistle, and they have no £ong. They continue in flocks until 

 breeding commences, which is not till late in June, and as soon as their 

 young are fledged they again assemble in companies. These birds are 

 rather stupid, and very great gormandizers. In fact, their movements 

 all seem prompted by their appetites. They are very fond of cherries, 

 and a fluck of them in a cherry tree is an entertaining sight to those 

 who are not especially interested in the fruit. When a flock alights, 

 they sit motionless and erect for a time, like parrots, then by a move- 

 ment of the head and neck, each one takes a survey of his immediate 



