169 



CEDAR WAXWING, OR CEDAR-BIRD. 



+B0MBYCILLA CAROLINENSIS, BrisS. 



PLATE CCXLVI.— Male and Female. 



Louisiana affords abundance of food and pleasant weather to this species, 

 for nearly four months of the year, as the Cedar-birds reach that State about 

 the beginning of November, and retire towards the Middle Districts in the 

 beginning of March. The holly, the vines, the persimon, the pride-of- 

 china, and various other trees, supply them with plenty of berries and fruits, 

 on which they fatten, and become so tender and juicy as to be sought by 

 every epicure for the table. I have known an instance of a basketful of these 

 little birds having been forwarded to New Orleans as a Christmas present. 

 The donor, however, was disappointed in his desire to please his friend in 

 that city, for it was afterwards discovered that the steward of the steamer, 

 in which they were shipped, made pies of them for the benefit of the pas- 

 sengers. 



The appetite of the Cedar-bird is of so extraordinary a nature as to prompt 

 it to devour every fruit or berry that comes in its way. In this manner they 

 gorge themselves to such excess as sometimes to be unable to fly, and suffer 

 themselves to be taken by the hand. Indeed I have seen some which, 

 although wounded and confined in a cage, have eaten of apples until suffo- 

 cation deprived them of life in the course of a few days. When opened 

 afterwards, they were found to be gorged to the mouth. 



It is a beautiful bird, but without any song, even during the breeding 

 season, having only a note which it uses for the purpose of calling or rallying 

 others of its species. This note is feeble, and as it were lisping, yet perfectly 

 effectual, for when uttered by one in a flock within hearing of another party, 

 the latter usually check their flight, and alight pellmell on the same tree. 



Their flight is easy, continued, and often performed at a considerable 

 height. The birds move in close bodies, sometimes amounting to large 

 flocks, making various circumvolutions before they alight, and then coming 

 down in such numbers together as to seem to be touching each other. At 

 this particular moment, or while performing their evolutions, some dozens 

 may be killed at a single shot; but if this opportunity is lost, the next 

 moment after they alight, the whole group is in motion, dispersing over 

 every bough to pick the berries which attracted them from the air. Their 



Vol. IV. 24 



