134 University of California Publications in Zoology [Vol. 30 



Waxwings build their nests in scattered communities, so that where 

 one pair is found there are pretty sure to be others not far distant. 

 Within a few miles of Atlin there were several such groups, compris- 

 ing at least eight or ten pairs at each place. We collected but three 

 sets of eggs at these places, but evidently there was some more formid- 

 able enemy of the birds at work, for the waxwings gradually dis- 

 appeared, and not one young bird was reared in these colonies. 



On July 15 we made the first of several visits to three small islands 

 opposite Atlin, and there we found waxwings in numbers, and nesting. 

 Apparently every pair that had started the breeding season on the 

 nearby mainland had moved out to the islands, where they seemed 

 free of whatever scourge it was that had destroyed their first nests. 

 We saw no Canada jays, no squirrels, and no chipmunks on the islands; 

 any or all of these may have been responsible for the shifting of the 

 birds. 



On the mainland nests were all in jack pines, but on the islands they 

 were nearly all in small balsam firs. Mostly they were built low, ten 

 feet from the ground or less, and several were within reach from the 

 ground. During the third week in July nests held fresh eggs or 

 incomplete sets. Complete sets, on the islands and on the mainland, 

 ranged from four to six eggs. 



On Otter Creek, July 26 to August 9, waxwings were occasionally 

 encountered, in small flocks, old and young together. During August 

 the species almost entirely disappeared, days and weeks passing with- 

 out one being seen. On September 7 a small flock was seen near 

 Gladys Lake, and 'on the 10th another flock between Gladys Lake and 

 Lake Teslin. Not seen subsequently, though the species might be 

 expected to remain until a much later date. 



Three waxwings were collected (nos. 44894^44896), male and 

 female taken July 27, full grown but in juvenal plumage throughout, 

 and an adult male, August 5, not yet beginning the annual molt. The 

 young male has four large wax tips on each wing, the young female, 

 two small ones. Neither has the vivid orange tail tipping noted on 

 certain young birds from the Stikine River (Swarth, 1922, p. 279), 

 though the female shows an approach to that color. 



Lanius borealis Vieillot. Northern Shrike 

 Our discovery of the northern shrike in the Atlin region establishes 

 this bird as a breeding species in extreme northern British Columbia, 

 though the previous capture of one by W. H. Osgood, for the U. S. 



