BIRDS AND ALL NATURE. 
ILLUSTRATED BY COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY. 
Vol. V. MAY, 1899. No. 5 
THE CEDAR WAXWING. 
(Ampelis cedrorum.) 
LYNDS JONES. 
THERE is no more beautiful bird 
in our northern states, if there 
be in the whole country, than 
our waxwing. Many birds are 
more gorgeously appareled, and with 
many there are more striking contrasts 
exhibited, but nowhere do we encoun- 
ter a texture more delicate covering a. 
bearing more courtly. One despairs of 
adequately describing the silky soft- 
ness of the plumage and the beautiful 
shades of color. But the perfecting of 
color photography has made that task 
unnecessary. We may wonder why 
some crested birds have this regal in- 
signia bestowed upon them by nature, 
but it would be impossible to think of 
the waxwing without his crowning 
glory. Not less characteristic are the 
horny appendages resembling red seal- 
ing wax attached to the secondary wing 
feathers and sometimes also to the tail 
feathers. They seem to be outgrowths 
of the tip of the shaft. These, with the 
yellow-tipped tail, form the only bright 
colors in the plumage. 
The cedar waxwings are gregarious, 
except during the breeding-season, wan- 
dering about the country in flocks of a 
dozen individuals, more or less, stop- 
ping for any considerable time only 
where food is plentiful. Their wander- 
ing propensities make their presence a 
very uncertain quantity at any season 
of the year. During the whole of 1898 
they were present in considerable num- 
bers at Oberlin, Ohio, nesting in or- 
chards and shade trees plentifully, but 
thus far in 1899 very few have been 
seen. No doubt their presence is not 
suspected even when they may be nu- 
merous, because they do not herald 
their appearance with aloud voice nor 
with whistling wing. Their voice ac- 
cords perfectly with their attire, their 
manners are quiet and unassuming, and 
their flight is well-nigh noiseless. One 
moment the flock is vaulting through 
the air in short bounds, the next its 
members are perched in a treetop with 
erected crests at attention. If all is 
quiet without cause for suspicion, the 
flock begins feeding upon the insect 
pests, if they are in season; upon the 
fruit, if that is in season. So compact 
is the flock, both in flight and while 
resting, that nearly every member 
might be taken at a single shot. The 
birds are so unsuspicious that they can 
easily be approached, thus presenting 
a tempting prize to the small hunter 
who may design the beautiful plumage 
for some hat decoration. 
In common with the goldfinch, the 
waxwings are late breeders, making 
their nests in June, July, and August. 
They seem to prefer rather small trees 
and low ones, nesting in orchard trees 
and in ornamental shrubbery as well as 
in shade trees. The nest is not usually 
an elaborate affair, but rather loosely 
made of twigs, grass, rootlets, and 
leaves, often lined with grape-vine 
bark, thus hinting that the species has 
sprung from an original tropical stock, 
which necessarily makes its nest as cool 
and airy as practicable. The eggs are 
unique among the smaller ones, in their 
steely bluish-gray ground, rather evenly 
overlaid with dots and scratches of 
dark brown or black, thus presenting 
an aggressiveness out of all harmony 
with the birds. But the peculiar colors 
and pattern aid greatly in rendering 
the eggs inconspicuous in the nest, as 
anyone may prove by noticing them as 
they lie on their bed of rootlets or 
leaves. They are usually four in num- 
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