WAXWING 99 



yard among Titmice and Juncos, and in a dog- 

 wood thicket with Chickadees, busily and ami- 

 cably feeding all together. 



He has not much of a song — a few weak 

 chirps and trills; but his pleasant disposition is 

 apparent without such evidence. 



Another Kinglet, the Ruby-crowned, is 

 scarcely larger but a louder singer, brightening 

 our winter days and, like the last, going north to 

 Canada to build his nest in spring. 



WAXWING 



Like a Japanese watercolor in finish of detail 

 and softness of coloring is a group -of Wax- 

 wings sitting close together, as they love to be, 

 on a treetop; like a festoon of flying cherubs 

 in some old master's conception of celestial 

 regions is the grace of their short flights, wheel- 

 ing out and back again. Invariably they sug- 

 gest a work of art, or some finished elegance of 

 cultivation. 



Their affectionate, dainty manners toward 

 one another win our admiration. Surely the 

 beauty of such a flock, though songless, well 

 repays us for the cherries of which they take 

 toll. But their capacity for destroying canker- 

 worms is an indorsement quite as strong. 



The name Waxwing is given them on account 

 of the curiously tipped wing feathers. Across 



