THE WAXWING. 7 
In Great Britain the Waxwing has been most frequently met with in the 
northern and eastern counties; Mr. Frohawk tells me that in the winter of 1867-8 
a flock of seven visited a small plantation at Brisley, in Norfolk; but in England 
it has from time to time been observed in almost every county, whilst in Ireland 
it has been but rarely obtained; its visits to Scotland have been tolerably frequent, 
extending even to the islands of Skye, Orkney, and Shetland, but it has not been 
recorded from the Outer. Hebrides. 
The upper surface of the adult male Waxwing is pale rosy-brown, gradually 
changing to ash-grey on the rump and upper tail-coverts, and into chestnut on the 
sides of the crest and forehead; a narrow frontal band, the lores, and a streak 
from the back of the eye black; wings and tail almost black, the wing-coverts, the 
inner webs of the primaries, and outer webs of the secondaries tipped with white, 
the latter tipped with wax-like vermilion points, the outside webs of the primaries 
tipped with yellow, joining the white tips of the inner webs so as to form V-like 
markings; tail feathers broadly tipped with yellow; under surface rosy-brown, 
shading into chestnut on the cheeks; a white streak at the base of the lower 
mandible; front of throat and chin black; centre of belly whitish; under tail- 
coverts chestnut; bill and feet black; iris hazel. The female is slightly duller, 
usually without the white tips to the inner webs of the primaries, and with smaller 
wax-like terminations to the secondaries; the tips of the tail-feathers somewhat 
narrower. ‘The young are browner, and have no black on the throat. 
This species appears in the breeding-season to haunt the more open portions 
of forests of conifers and birch, but chiefly woods of pine, or larch, nesting in 
colonies. The nest is a large open cup-shaped structure built upon the branch 
of a tree, upon a foundation of twigs and reindeer moss, composed principally 
of black hair-lichen, interwoven with slender twigs, bark, moss, and feathers, the 
latter appearing most prominently in the lining. The eggs usually number from 
five to six, rarely seven, and are described by Professor Newton, who owns the 
greater part of the large series acquired by John Wolley (the discoverer of the 
breeding-grounds of this species) as ‘‘ delicate sea-green, sometimes fading to French 
white, but often of a more or less pale olive, and occasionally of a dull purplish 
grey. On this are almost always bold blotches, spots, and specks of deep brownish 
black, though sometimes the edges are blurred. Beneath these stronger markings 
there is nearly always a series of blotches or streaks of greyish lilac, and among 
them well-defined spots or specks of yellowish brown are interspersed. In some 
eggs the darkest markings are quite wanting, in others the ground is of a deep 
olive colour.” 
According to Seebohm, who, in 1867, kept a pair of this species in a cage, 
