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The Cedar Waxwing 
Whispering 
Notes 
flakes. They took their station on the branches of a tall elm from which 
they launched forth in quick succession and snapped up the whirling 
flakes. The Waxwing lives a wandering Bohemian life, intent on satisfy- 
ing its healthy appetite; and, this done, seems to be lost in admiration 
of the beauties and graces of its relatives and companions. 
Perhaps in the white days of winter you may see a little flock sitting 
upright upon some leafless tree, calling softly to one another in their 
high-pitched, lisping, sibilant monotone. As Mr. 
Dawson says: “It is as though you had come upon 
a company of the Immortals, high-removed, con- 
versing of matters too recondite for human ken, and who survey you the 
while with Olympian disdain.” 
During the nesting-season they become silent, indeed, but several 
competent ornithologists have heard a low song. Mr. Brewster has 
heard our Waxwings give a succession of loud, full notes, not unlike 
those uttered by Tree Swallows in spring. 
The migrations and winter movements of the Cedar Waxwing are 
controlled largely by the supply of certain wild berries in the regions 
over which they pass. Therefore they may be met with in fall and 
winter anywhere from the latitude of Maine to that of Georgia, wherever 
the berries upon which they feed are plentiful. 
Like some other plump and well-fed personages, the Cedar Waxwing 
is good-natured, happy, tender-hearted, affectionate, and blessed with 
a good disposition. It is fond of good company. 
Sociability When the nesting-season is past, each harmonious 
little family joins with others until the flock may 
number from thirty to sixty individuals. They fly in close order, and 
keep well together through the winter and spring until the nesting-season 
again arrives. Their manner of flight is quite their own. Often they 
suddenly wheel as if at command and plunge swiftly downward, alight- 
ing in a compact band on the top of some leafless tree. They often show 
their affectionate disposition by “billing,” and by dressing one another’s 
plumage as they sit in a row. 
Classification and Distribution 
The Cedar Waxwing belongs to the Order Passeres, Suborder Oscincs, and 
Family Bombycillidce. It inhabits all temperate North America, breeding from 
the central United States to southern Canada, in wooded places; and winters 
in most of the United States and thence southward to Panama. 
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