OUR HOME BIRDS. 
237 
of the bird among thick branches of the cedar. The 
young birds do not have these sealing-wax tips until 
the autumn of their second year. 
“ The cedar-bird is seven inches long, and one of 
the most quiet of birds, making only a feeble lisping 
sound, chiefly as it rises or alights. So that the 
name of ‘ chatterer/ which has been given to it, 
seems particularly inappropriate. 
“ In some parts of the country it is called crown- 
bird, from the pointed crest which adds so much to 
the elegance of its appearance ; and in other places 
cherry-bird, from its fondness for that fruit. It also 
feeds on ripe persimmons, small winter grapes, bird- 
cherries, and a great variety of other fruits and ber- 
ries. ‘ The birds appear to be berry-eaters, at least 
during winter. Those of Europe have generally 
been observed to feed on the fruit of the mountain 
ash ; and one or two killed in Pennsylvania were 
literally crammed with holly-berries. , Audubon 
says : ‘ The appetite of the cedar-bird is of so extra- 
ordinary a nature as to prompt it to devour every 
fruit or berry that comes in its way. In this man- 
ner they gorge themselves to such excess as some- 
times to be unable to fly, and suffer themselves to be 
taken by the hand ; and I have seen some which, 
though wounded and confined in a cage, have eaten 
apples until suffocation deprived them of life/ ” 
