FAMILY VIII. 
SERICAT1 , Illiger. 
GENUS XII. — BOMBYCILLA, Vieill. 
65. BOMBYCILLA CAROLINENSIS, BRISSON. 
AMPELIS AMERICANA, WILSON. CEDAR BIRD. 
WILSON, PL. VII. FIG. I. • — EDINBURGH COLLEGE MUSEUM. 
The plumage of these birds is of an exquisitely fine 
and silky texture, lying extremely smooth and glossy, 
Notwithstanding the name chatterers given to them, 
they are perhaps the most silent species we have; 
making only a feeble, lisping sound, chiefly as they 
rise or alight. They fly in compact bodies, of from 
twenty to fifty ; and usually alight so close together on 
the same tree, that one half are frequently shot down 
at a time. In the months of July and August, they 
collect together in flocks, and retire to the hilly parts 
of the State, the Blue Mountains, and other collateral 
ridges of the Alleghany, to enjoy the fruit of the 
vaccinium uliginosum, whortleberries, which grow there 
in great abundance ; whole mountains, for many miles, 
being almost entirely covered with them ; and where, 
in the month of August, I have myself found the cedar 
birds numerous. In October they descend to the lower, 
cultivated parts of the country, to feed on the berries 
of the sour gum, and red cedar, of which last they are 
immoderately fond ; and thirty or forty may sometimes 
he seen fluttering among the branches of one small 
cedar tree, plucking off the berries. They are also 
found as far south as Mexico, as appears from the 
