July, 1905 I 
NOTES ON THE BOHEMIAN WAXWING 
99 
Streets and they are encouraged to keep well above the ground by the small boy — 
to whom they are known as “cedar quails” — who hunts them with his vicious 
“flipper.” Later in the season, however, they come lower. Three years ago on 
several occasions numbers of these birds fed on crab apples that had been buried 
by the snow in our front yard. As the snow melted, leaving the apples in sight, 
the birds ate them with great relish. Many times during the winter just past, 
waxwings have come into our back yard and fed on the apples which were left on 
on the trees for just such visitors. As I write these words, a flock of thirty-five 
waxwings are feeding in the apple trees, less than two rods from my study window. 
There must be something about these apples that produces thirst, for the birds 
will feed for a time, and then drop down to the irrigating ditch nearby, drink, and 
return to the apples. Back and forth they fly — from food to water — many times 
in the course of a half hour. Nor are these birds restricted to dried up apples, 
seeds of locust trees, and tender buds of the poplar trees. Not infrequently during 
the sunny days of winter, I have seen these “chatterers” dash out from fifty to a 
hundred feet from the tree tops where they were congregated, and return directly 
to the point of departure. On such occasions, one after another — a half dozen or a 
dozen at a time — will dart out and up, with the rapid wing stroke and straight 
flight of the kingbird, snap up the insect of which they were in pursuit and re- 
turn to their places in the poplars. Usually, unless the chase carried them too far 
from the starting point, they describe a graceful circle and sail back to the tree, in 
this respect also reminding one of the kingbird. Upon the return of these hunters 
to the tree they never failed to receive from their waiting comrades, “burring” 
words of commendation, elicited, no doubt, by their cleverness and success. I have 
seen the ceder bird in New England, late in August, indulging its flycatching pro- 
clivities, but to find its rare and beautiful relative doing the same thing in Utah, 
in January, was a novel experience to me. 
The Bohemian waxwings are gregarious; they move about only in flocks, 
large or small, save in breeding time. I have seen flocks, here in the city, num- 
bering from 150 to 300 birds. On one of the coldest days of the winter of igo3-’o4 
I happened upon a flock, which occupied the tops of several poplars, and in which 
there were nearly 320 birds. Often fifty to one hundred are to be seen. Toward 
spring, they seem to break up into smaller flocks. When one of the larger flocks 
takes possession of the bare tops of some of our tall poplars, and are seen from a 
distance, the birds appear like some strange “slugs” clinging to the branches. 
These birds are of a quiet, gentle disposition and appear to be possessed of the 
instincts, tastes, and refinement which always characterize well-bred folk. They 
love the society of their kind — and soon learn to know their human friends — and 
are sociable and well disposed in their relations one with another. When not 
feeding, they sit quietly, all facing one direction, and appear to be looking about 
them, as if in intelligent appreciation and enjoyment of their surroundings. They 
never indulge in unseemly squabbles, and, with rare exceptions, always conduct 
themselves with dignity and propriety. In fact, their politeness, and seeming con- 
sideration of one another is really remarkable, surpassing in these respects, the 
cedar bird. In this connection is suggested the rather amusing statement, made 
by at least two writers on ornithological subjects, concerning the cedar bird. 
Neltje Blaneban, in “Bird Neighbors,” quotes Nuttall as saying that he “has often 
seen them (cedar birds) passing a worm from one to another down a whole row of 
beaks and back again before it was finally eaten.” Wm. Rogers Lord, in his “A 
First Book upon the Birds of Oregon and Washington,” evidently following the 
writer just quoted, uses almost precisely the same language, making Nuttall re- 
sponsible for this incident. The only trouble with these statements is that they 
