338 
PASSERIFORMES 
Distribution. The northern parts of the northern hemisphere in both the New and 
Old Worlds. In Canada, breeding in northern Manitoba, Mackenzie District, northern 
British Columbia, and down the eastern slopes of the Rockies, irregularly to southern 
Alberta. Migrating in winter irregularly south and east over most of the Dominion. 
Their irregular wandering habits in winter have given these birds the 
name “Bohemian” which in this sense is synonymous with “wandering.” 
They are northwestern birds, but come into cultivated sections irregularly 
in winter, as does the Evening Grosbeak. They are too rare to have any 
great economic influence. Their favourite food is the dried waste fruit 
that hangs throughout the winter. 
619. Cedar Waxwing, cedar-bird. Carolina waxwing. cherry-bird. le 
jaseur du c^dre (Recollet) . Bombycilla cedrorum. L, 7-19. Plate LXI A. A very 
neat, nattily plumaged bird, about the size of a House Sparrow. Soft brown-fawn over 
head, breast, and back, changing to slate-grey on rump and pale yellow on abdomen. A 
prominent, sharp - tipped, erectile crest; a black bar through eyes; chin-spot of same 
colour. Tail tipped with lemon, as if dipped in paint. Small, reddish appendages like 
bits of sealing-wax on tips of secondaries and sometimes on tail feathers (Figure 421). 
Distinctions. To be mistaken only for the Bohemian Waxwing, but is decidedly 
smaller; yellowish instead of faintly greyish beneath, without yellow or white on wings, 
and undertail-coverts creamy white instead of rich chestnut. 
Field Marks. The natty shape and bearing, with conspicuous, usually upstanding, 
crest are easily recognizable field marks for this bird as a waxwing. Small size, yellowish 
underparts, total lack of red under the tail, and absence of yellow or white markings on 
closed wing will separate it from the Bohemian Waxwing. This is the waxwing most 
likely to be seen in southern Canada during the summer. Any such bird seen, except in 
winter, should be assumed to be this species until positive Bohemian details are recog- 
nized. The note, a fine, sharp wheeze, is distinctive and soon learned. 
Nesting. In fruit or shade trees or in bushes. Nest of strips of bark, leaves, grasses, 
twigs, rootlets, or moss, lined with finer materials of same nature. 
Distribution. North America. In Canada, north to well into the northern boreal 
forest. 
The Cedar Waxwing is one of the familiar birds of the orchard. It 
builds in the fruit trees and is rather too well known in the vicinity of early 
ripening cherries. In the winter it seeks the various kinds of old dried 
fruit left hanging on the branches. The coloration is soft and harmonious 
with just enough accent of contrast to give character. The peculiar smooth 
silky texture of the plumage causes the feathers to cling together so that 
they always lie smoothly and are never awry. The red sealing-wax-like 
processes in which the shafts of the secondaries and sometimes the tail 
feathers end, common to this and the Bohemian Waxwing, are unique 
amongst American birds and give an added touch of individuality. 
Economic Status. About 13 per cent of the waxwing’s food is noxious 
insects, the remainder largely fruit. The greater part of the fruit is wild 
and of no economic importance, in fact, as with most birds, wild fruits are 
evidently much preferred to cultivated ones. However, when early cherries 
ripen before the wild, the damage waxwings can do is considerable. The 
same amount of fruit distributed over many later trees might pass un- 
noticed, but when the damage is concentrated upon the earliest and most 
valuable part of the crop the loss may be keenly felt. The protection of 
early fruit from the depredations of this and a few other species of like habit 
is a subject that has received considerable attention. To shoot all birds 
visiting the orchard is one solution, but a very poor one. It gives only 
partial protection and has to be repeated each season; for as long as any 
remain in the vicinity the annual increase will undo the results of previous 
