AMPELINiE. EOMBYCILLA. 
183 
GENUS LVII. EOMBYCILLA. YvAXWING. 
Bill short, straight, broad at the base, compressed toward 
the end ; upper mandible with the dorsal line convex, the 
ridge narrow, the edges sharp and overlapping, the notches 
distinct, the tip small, decimate, rather acute ; lower man- 
dible smaller, with the angle wide, the dorsal line convex, 
the edges somewhat inclinate, the tip acute, ascending, with 
a small sinus ; gape-line straight. Tongue short, triangular, 
sagittate and papillate at the base, concave above, with the 
tip horny and deeply slit ; mouth wide ; oesophagus very wide, 
enlarged about the middle ; stomach small, moderately mus- 
cular, roundish, with a dense, rugous, epithelium ; intestine 
short, and excessively wide ; coeca very small, oblong. Nos- 
trils large, oval. Eyes of moderate size. Head ovato-ob- 
long ; neck short ; body moderately full. Legs short ; tar- 
sus compressed, with seven scutella ; toes of moderate size, 
outer slightly adherent at the base, and a little longer than 
the inner ; claws moderate, arched, compressed, laterally 
grooved, acute. Plumage very soft and blended ; head with 
a conspicuous tuft ; wings rather long, pointed, the first and 
second quills longest ; secondaries abruptly rounded, with the 
shaft prolonged into a narrow, oblong, coloured, horny ap- 
pendage ; tail of moderate length, nearly even. 
The Waxwings, so named on account of the little appen- 
dages to the wings, in colour resembling red sealing-wax, 
belong to the arctic regions of both continents. 
112. Bombycilla garrula. Black-throated Waxwing. 
General colour of the plumage light greyish-brown, shaded 
behind into ash-grey ; forehead and lower tail-coverts brown- 
ish-orange ; throat and a band from the nostrils to the occiput 
black ; primary coverts tipped with white ; primaries with a 
yellow, secondaries with a white spot, at the end of the outer 
web ; tail greyish-black, tipped with yellow. 
Male, 9, 16, 4^^^, Female, 8;|^. 
This beautiful bird is only an occasional or accidental visi- 
ter, appearing in winter, generally in large flocks, and feeding 
on the berries of the hawthorn and mountain-ash. At that 
season it is said to be generally dispersed over the Continent ; 
but in summer it retires northward. 
