WAX WINGS. 
465 
and form a single genus, Ampelis. The metatarsus is short; the feet are weak ; 
and the inner quills of the wings are tipped with curious red horny appendages, 
compared to pieces of sealing-wax. The Bohemian waxwing inhabits the northern 
parts of the Old and New Worlds; the Japanese waxwing breeds in South- 
Eastern Siberia, and winters in Japan, China, and Formosa; while a third 
species, the cedar-bird, is peculiar to North America. Great interest for many 
years attached to the nesting-habits of the Bohemian waxwing ( A . garrulus), 
which were surrounded by mystery until solved by Messrs. Dresser and Wolley. 
The former of these ornithologists found the waxwing breeding in Finland in 
BOHEMIAN WAXWING (| Hat. size). 
the year 1858, only two years after the latter had obtained the nest of a waxwing 
in Lapland. 
Writing of his nest-hunting experiences, Mr. Dresser says that, after finding a 
tree in which a waxwing built, “ I climbed up to the nest, which was in the fork 
between the main stem and the first branch, and not above nine or ten feet from 
the ground. The moment I touched it, the young ones (five in number) flew out. 
I jumped down, and made a cut at the largest with my cap, and secured him. 
Directly the young one which I had caught began to cry out, several waxwings 
flew from the neighbouring thicket, all, however, keeping out of gunshot, except two 
vol. in .—30 
