169 
CEDAR WAXWING, OR CEDAR-BIRD. 
Bombycilla carolinensis, Briss. 
PLATE CCXLYI. — Male and Female. 
Louisiana affords abundance of food and pleasant weather to this species, 
for nearly four months of the year, as the Cedar-birds reach that State about 
the beginning - of November, and retire towards the Middle Districts in the 
beginning of March. The holly, the vines, the persirnon, the pride-of- 
china, and various other trees, supply them with plenty of berries and fruits, 
on which they fatten, and become so tender and juicy as to be sought by 
every epicure for the table. I have known an instance of a basketful of these 
little birds having been forwarded to New Orleans as a Christmas present. 
The donor, however, was disappointed in his desire to please his friend in 
that city, for it was afterwards discovered that the steward of the steamer, 
in which they were shipped, made pies of them for the benefit of the pas- 
sengers. 
The appetite of the Cedar-bird is of so extraordinary a nature as to prompt 
it to devour every fruit or berry that comes in its way. In this manner they 
gorge themselves to such excess as sometimes to be unable to fly, and suffei 
themselves to be taken by the hand. Indeed I have seen some which, 
although wounded and confined in a cage, have eaten of apples until suffo- 
cation deprived them of life in the course of a few days. When opened 
afterwards, they were found to be gorged to the mouth. 
It is a beautiful bird, but without any song, even during the breeding 
season, having only a note which it uses for the purpose of calling or rallying 
others of its species. This note is feeble, and as it were lisping, yet perfectly 
effectual, for when uttered by one in a flock within hearing of another party, 
the latter usually check their flight, and alight pellmell on the same tree. 
Their flight is easy, continued, and often performed at a considerable 
height. The birds move in close bodies, sometimes amounting to large 
flocks, making various cix’cumvolutions before they alight, and then coming 
down in such numbers together as to seem to be touching each other. At 
this particular moment, or while performing their evolutions, some dozens 
may be killed at a single shot ; but if this opportunity is lost, the next 
moment after they alight, the whole group is in motion, dispersing over 
every bough to pick the berries which attracted them from the air. Their 
Vol. IV. 24 
