CEDAR-BIRD, CHERRY-BIRD, OR WAX- WING 



Neck and back a glossy brown; forehead and a line 

 through the eye black; a conspicuous crest; wings brown 

 shading to black; bright red spot on shorter wing- feathers; 

 tail and wings gray; tail tipped with yellow; breast and under 

 parts brown turning to yellowish-white near the tail. Length, 

 seven and one-half inches. 



Nest, made of strips of bark, dry grass, leaves, moss, 

 twigs and rootlets. Found in trees from five to fifteen feet 

 from the ground. Eggs, three to five, light green or dingy 

 white spotted with brown or black, .80 x- .60 inches. 



After spending the winter just far enough south to avoid 

 very cold weather, the Cedar-birds appear in the Northern 

 States early in April. They come in small flocks flying just 

 above the tree-tops in regular and compact order. Both in 

 flying and in alighting, their movements are made with the 

 regularity of soldiers, every one doing the same thing in 

 exactly the same way. Were they under the control of a 

 master spirit they could not be more uniform in their actions. 



Several of them will range themselves in line upon a 

 single limb, thus tempting a sportsman to kill them all at a 

 single shot. Sitting together in their glossy cinnamon-brown 

 coats and lofty caps, with wax-tipped wings and yellow-banded 

 tails, these birds present one of the most beautiful sights in 

 nature. Often while a flock is at rest, one of them will rise 

 and, whirling in the air, snatch a passing insect like a true 

 Flycatcher, after which it will quickly take its place in line 

 again. 



The gentle, affectionate ways of the Wax-wings are 



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