GOLD- CRESTS— WAX- WINGS. 



369 



found only in the northern parts of the Old and New Worlds, our own i?. 

 rejuhis and the fire-crest {R. irjiUcajnilus) being palsearctic, with a smaller 

 race in the Himalayas {li. liimalayensis), and distinct forms in Madeira {li. 

 inaderensis), the Canaries (R. teneriffce), and the Azores (iJ. azorensis), while 

 North America has the ruby-crest {R. calendida). 



Although such a small bird, the common gold-crest is a regular migrant to 

 England across the North Sea, and sometimes migrations have taken place 

 which have lasted from eighty to ninety days. The nest which the bird 

 builds is slung like a hammock under the branch of a yew-ti'ee or a fir : it is 

 made of moss, and is generally well concealed, and lined with feathers, the 

 eggs being from five to eight in number, of a creamy white colour, with a 

 darker ring round the largei end. 



The shrikes are one of the most cosmopolitan families of birds, for, with 

 the exception of South America, where they are absent, they are everywhere 

 distributed. The true shrikes {Lanius), of which the great 

 grey shrike {L. excitbitor) is the type, are chiefly northern The Shrikes or 

 birds, but are distributed also over Africa, India, and the Butoher-Blrds. — 

 Indo-Chinese sub-region, but in the Malayan, Australian, Family Laniidce. 

 and Oceanic sub-regions they are represented chiefly by the 

 genus Pachycephala. The red-backed shrike {Lanius collyrio) and the wood- 

 chat {L. senator) are two of the commonest of the European species, and the 

 former visits Great Britain in the summer. The members of this family 

 have gained their name of " butcher birds " from their habit of impaling 

 their food on sharp thorns in the hedges near their nests, mice, frogs, 

 grasshoppers, beetles, and other insects being often found in the "larders" 

 of these birds. 



The swallow-shrikes or wood -swallows constitute a small assemblage of birds, 

 containing the genus Artamus, of the l7idian and Australian regions, with 

 seventeen species, and Fseudochelidon of West Africa, with 

 one species, P. eurystomina. The swallow-shrikes are grey 

 or brown birds, with a pointed blue bill and very long wings, 

 and Gould says that no one who has seen them in life can 

 fail to notice how closely they resemble the swallows in the 

 actions and general mode of life. The nest of A. sordidiis 



is placed in the fork of a branch, or on the side of a 

 tree, and is made of fine twigs neatly lined with 

 fibrous roots. The eggs are white, spotted with umber 

 brown. 



The waxwings are a nine-primaried family, chiefly 

 northern in their habitat, and possessing tropical 

 genera only in North and Central 

 America, where the crested chatterers 

 {Phainnpejjla and Piilorjonys) occur. 



The.waxwing (Ampelis garruhis) is 

 found in North Americaand in North ern 

 Europe and Asia, and occasionally visits Great Britain, 

 occurring at irregular intervals in some numbers. It 

 gains its name from the wax-like tips which are de- 

 veloped on the secondary quills in the adult bird. 

 These are also found in the American cedar-bird {Ampebs 

 cedrorum), but in the Japanese waxwing (A. japomcns) 

 the secondaries and tail are tipped with crimson. The nest of A. garndus 

 25 



The Swallow- 

 Shrikes. — 

 Family 



Artamidce. 



The Chatterers. 

 —Family 



Ampdidce. 



Fig. 109.— The Wax- 

 wing 

 (Ampelis garrulus). 



