AMPELIDiE. 239 



colour, and having the appearance and lustre of sealing-wax. Tail coloured like the quills, 

 tipped with a band of king's-yellow half an inch wide. Bill and legs black. Irides dark-red. 

 Form, &c. — Bill typical. The first and second primaries are subequal and longest. The 

 tail is nearly even, and the coverts reach nearly to the end. Tarsi remarkably short, feathered 

 below the knee. Lateral toes unequal. 



A female, killed at the same time, diners in having the marks on the tips of the primaries 

 untingedwith yellow; the cartilaginous prolongations fewer; a narrower yellow tip to the tail, 

 and a smaller and less intense black mark on the chin. 













Dimensions 





ngt 



55 



li total , 

 of tail 



Of the male. 

 Inch. Line. 

 . 9 

 . 2 6 



The female. 

 Inch. Line. 



8 6 

 2 5 



Length 



55 



of middle toe . 

 of middle nail 



55 



of wing 



. 4 



n 



4 



3 



55 



of inner toe . 



55 



of bill on its ridge 



. 



6 







S3 

 °5 



55 



of inner nail 



55 



of bill to rictus 







10i 







10 



55 



of hind toe . 



55 



of tarsus . . 



. 



10 







9 



55 



of hind nail 



















Of the male. 



The female. 



Inch. Line. 



Inch. Line. 



9 



8 



. 3i 



3| 



4 



4£ 



. 2 



2 



4 



4 



• 3 3i 



3* 



[62.] 2. Bombycilla Americana. The Cedar-bird. 



Genus, Bombycilla. Brisson. 



Bombycilla Carolinensis. Briss., ii., p. 337, 1. Idem, 8vo., i., p. 251. 



Chatterer of Carolina. Edwards, pi. 242. 



Cedar-bird (Arapelis Americana). Wilson, i-, p. 107, pi. 7j f. I. 



Bombycilla Carolinensis. Bonap. Syn., p. 59, sp. 68. 



Recollect. Canadian Voyagers. 



This species was considered by Linnaeus, Latham, and others, to be a mere 

 variety of the preceding one, from which, however, it is perfectly distinct. It is a 

 more southern bird, not having- been observed hitherto, I believe, to the north- 

 ward of the fifty-fourth parallel of latitude. Tt inhabits the United States the 

 whole year, being more common in the northern and middle States in summer, 

 and frequenting the southern States in the winter season. Wilson informs us 

 that it forms compact flocks, containing from twenty to fifty individuals, which 

 usually alight on the same tree. It feeds on berries of all kinds, and is very fond 

 of the fruit of the sour-gum and red-cedar. The young are fed at first on insects 

 and their larvae, but, as they advance in growth, on berries of various kinds. 

 The female, if disturbed, darts from the nest in silence to a considerable distance ; 

 no notes of wailing or lamentation are heard from either parent ; and the season 



