ROE AU OUI O NEB ULE ETN 25 
A\ Pair of W axwings 
By F. R. Dickinson 
Most of us who like to watch and study living birds have, I think, 
a few favorites in which for reasons perhaps unknown and _ undiscover- 
able, we take more than ordinary interest. Sometimes this apparently 
blind fancy may be traced back to some field experience, more than ordi- 
narily vivid and pleasing, which has made so lasting an impression that 
ever afterward the sight of that particular bird arouses in us, consciously 
or unconsciously, a wish to add further to our knowledge of its ways. 
In other cases it may be that some quality already within us, such as 
appreciation of color, form, speed, daring, or dexterity, responds more 
readily to the sight of those birds whose own characteristics suggest the 
traits which we admire. However this may be, I have always counted 
the Cedar Waxwing as one of my favorites, partly, I think, because of 
the beauty of its satiny plumage and clear marking, but even more for 
its quiet and self-contained behavior whether in flocks or pairs. If it is 
permissible to endow birds with human attributes or describe their habits 
in terms of human conduct, one must admit that a dozen waxwings, sun- 
ning themselves peaceably in an orchard, present a picture of poise, friend- 
liness, and good manners not always to be observed among their feathered 
relatives. 
Last summer, in Charlevoix County, Michigan, I had a chance to 
study the habits of a pair of these “velvet birds,” as the natives called them, 
at close range. “Their nest was near the top of a low apple tree, within 
ten feet of an inhabited cottage. On June 27 incubation of the four 
eggs had begun, and after allowing the parents to grow accustomed to 
me for a few days, I set up a blind on a platform so placed as to bring 
a motion picture camera level with the nest and about seven feet from 
it. During this process the incubating bird remained quiet, showing 
nervousness only by extending her neck as high as possible, with the head 
turned to one side, and “freezing” in that position until I entered the blind. 
For about ten days I. kept the nest under frequent observation and 
never saw both birds near it at the same time. ‘The one I took to be 
the male spent most of his time in or about a nearby garden and orchard. 
The other stayed on the job except for short intervals of feeding. “Then 
one morning I saw both birds sitting on the edge of the nest, motionless, 
one of them bending over as if inspecting the contents. I can’t actually 
swear to an expression of parental pride on its face, but the attitude was 
so suggestive of it that after a few moments I climbed up and found, as 
I had suspected, that one of the eggs had hatched. 
From then on, as nearly as I could observe, both birds took part in 
feeding the young and one adult often brought food to the other. About 
a week after the hatch was complete, one of the parents came to the nest 
