174 
ORNITHOLOGIST 
AND 0 
\ fore me, the set of four is somewhat larger Ulan 
Any of the five sets, measuring : Sets of four, 
1.53x1.25; 1.50x1.28; 1.55x1.31; 1.53x1.27.' Set 
of three, 1.45x1.20; 1.40x1.22; 1.42xl.2ST The 
above being Screecli Owls. The following Cali- 
fornia Mottled Owl, measuring : Set p, of three, 
1.44x118; 1.42x1.20; 1,28x1.20. Set S, three, 
1.42x1,21 ; 1.40x1.16; 1.42x1.16. Sfet E, three, 
1.37x1.20; 1.38x1.22; 1.42x1.16. All are of the 
same gfbssy, crystal white peculiar to the Owl’s 
eggs. \ / 
•I give here a record of m/ first sets for each 
season, during six years: March 18th, 1880 ; April 
24th, 1881;\April 11th, 1882 ; March 24th, 1883; 
May 13th, 1884; April 12th, 1885. It will be 
seen that the\ year 1884; was later than the rest, 
the Spring beipg very wet all the hollows in the 
trees were filled with water. 
I found one the past Spring that had taken up 
quarters in an old wood rat’s nest placed on a 
limb of a Bay tree, some thirty feet from the 
ground. A large i^ass of dead leaves from the 
tree had been put together, and a hollow formed 
in the centre, lined With feathers of fowls and 
birds. 
I took a young Mottled Owl from some boys 
two years ago, and put it\n my greenhouse with 
a young Sparrow Hawk. They seemed to get on 
well together except in feeding, when the young 
Hawk wanted all the attention, When he got his 
portion he would take it in his fci,aws, fly down in 
a corner on the long table, and sjrireari his wrings 
as though to hide his food. The Qwlet would 
snap at his meat when a piece was'held up to 
him, make a grab, shut his eyes and swallow it 
down with great satisfaction. The hot weather 
■was too much for them in the hot house, With all 
thq windows out, and I found them bothlaickout 
one afternoon. \ 
“The Cedar Bird.” 
( Ampelis cedrorum, Vieillot.) Gray. 
BY PRANK R. RATIIBUN. 
This bird belongs to the family of Wax- 
wings, of which we have but two examples 
on this continent, the other being the Bohemian 
Waxwing or Chatterer, a somewhat larger bird, 
but strikingly similar in many respects. The 
Cedar Bird is a true tramp, breeding anywhere in 
his peculiar lazy way, and roaming from Florida 
to the Red River country. lie is not, however, 
one of the diffident and solitary kind, but of a 
social cast, and may nearly always bo seen con- 
sorting with members of his own kind. When- 
ever his “ dreary whisper,” his “ wheezy” whistle 
is heard, a superficial search will almost invaria- 
[Vol. 10-No. 11 
bly find an encampment of the brotherhood. We 
have called him a true tramp, but we might qual- 
ify this statement somewhat by dubbing him a 
tramp of the gypsy clan, so nomadic and erratic 
are his movements and visitations. The heat of 
Summer and Winter’s rigor have no depressing 
influence upon this indomitable bird. His char- 
acteristic fearlessness and independence is stamped 
upon his features, and evidenced in his striking 
profile. His sinister aspect, due to its peculiar 
markings, has always seemed to me to be sur- 
rounded with an eerie halo, with an atmosphere 
suggestive of the weird which is inexplicable. The 
sun neither incites nor delays his wooings, for 
sometimes the first young of the year are not 
seen until the month of August. In fact, he 
seems to take so much pleasure in his gregarious 
habits as to be unmindful of his domestic affairs. 
The Cedar Bird is known and recognized as 
the Carolina Wax wing and the Cedar Waxwing. 
He also has such local names as the “Ring-tail” 
and the “ Wax-bird,” but is universally known in 
the north as the “ Cherry Bird.” The first name 
has been given him from the yellow color which 
tips the ends of his tail feathers ; the second, from 
the peculiar red and horny appendages of his in- 
ner wing quills which much resemble red sealing 
wax ; and the latter, for his love for “ cherry- 
ripe,” so tantalizing to the horticulturist. 
This bird is of a very social, amiable, and very 
affectionate disposition. I had the good fortune 
to become intimately acquainted with a pair ol 
them the past season. They had selected for 
their nesting place the bough of a soft Maple 
tree, some twelve or fifteen feet from the ground. 
The tree stood close to the sidewalk of the street, 
and immediately in front of my gate. From my 
breakfast table I could easily watch their labors. 
The situation was very public and the street a 
familiar thoroughfare of the boys and girls as 
they went to and from the public school. The 
birds had but one object in view, apparently, 
and that to build, brood and bring up. I often 
stood immediately beneath the scene of their toil, 
without for a moment inspiring fear or interrupt- 
ing their labors. That they saw me was evident, 
for as they came to the spot alternately with ma- 
terials, they would pause for an instant and peer 
at me with their gypsy eyes from beneath then- 
sable frontlets, and seemingly satisfied that it was 
only me, proceed with their work of construction. 
I could but fancy they knew me and sought my 
protection, so trustful did they seem. When the 
female began to incubate her liege seemed very 
attentive and kind, bringing food and occasionally 
cheering her labors with a low whisper. Their 
bliss, however, was interrupted after a few days, 
Nov. 1885.] 
by the inherent destructiveness and mischief of 
some ruthless boy, who had, as I was led to infer 
from the scattered embryos and shells upon the 
walk beneath, either stoned or poked them from 
their nest. The pair disappeared and were never 
seen more. 
The horticulturist has long eyed these “ cherry 
birds” with suspicion, if not with hostility, for 
their peculiar fondness for garden fruits and cher- 
ries. They are, however, very beneficial birds, 
much more so than injurious, and for this reason 
should bo protected and tolerated. They destroy 
vast numbers of harmful bugs, caterpillars and 
canker-worms. Occasionally they awake from 
their lethargic moods and launch forth on vigor- 
ous wing after flying insects. 
While the Cedar Bird is to some extent a Spring 
and Autumn migrant, he does not hesitate to 
brave the rigor of our northern winters, where he 
collects in communities amid the thickets and 
groves. There they feed on various berries, es- 
pecially those of the Cedar aud other small cling- 
ing fruits. Occasionally they sally forth from 
these retreats and enter the cities and villages 
and feed upon the berry clusters of the ornamen- 
tal Mountain Ash to repletion, sometimes spend- 
ing the entire day in the tree. This is not unu- 
sual, for I have observed them thus for successive 
Winters. 
The plumage of the Cedar Bird is strikingly 
soft and smooth, and the colors of the body are 
full of rich and insensible blendings, which shade 
from an ashy color on the rump through cinna- 
mon to a rich purplish cinnamon on the breast 
and head; and through yellowish or yellowish 
buff on the belly, to the white of the under tail- 
coverts. Ho has a prominent crest of cinnamon 
drab and a sinister stripe of velvet black across 
and above the eyes, which is brought out in strong 
relief against the prevailing body color, by a mar- 
ginal line of purest white above, and a spot of the 
same color at the lower base ol the bill. 
The inner wing quills and occasionally the tail 
feathers — which are each finished off with a touch 
of chrome yellow — terminate in peculiar horny- 
like appendages strangely suggestive of red seal- 
ing-wax, Sometimes these singular adjuncts arc 
wanting, usually in the young birds. 
This bird is from six to seven inches in length, 
and the eggs, which are laid in a carefully con- 
structed nest of mosses and various fibrous mate- 
rials, are from three to six in number, and have a 
pale or livid bluish ground sharply and thickly 
dotted and blotched with blackish spots. Aver- 
age specimens of the eggs measure about eighty- 
two by sixt}' one hundredths of an inch. 
O.&O. X. Nov. 1885. p. 
¥7 
