Evening star., 1944-05-16
This and That
By Charles Z. Trace1DeH.
"BURNS STREET Sc.

BURNS STREET Sc.
Dear Sir:
LAS bird lover but by no means an
artist, appeal to you for any informa-
ton you may be able to CLEAN from the
incloSed sketch and description.
These birds appeared suddenly about
two weeks ago. and since they are en-
tirely new in my yard, thought they
were passing through, but each day
they come en- masse and fairly swamp
my holly tree which though not so
large was loaded with berries this year.
This seems to be their favorite food,
as they never light anywhere else. They
are very beautiful as their colors con-
trast sharply.
They have short but sharp crest
pointing sharply back, a black band
from top OF bill around eyes to crest.
general body color a soft light brown.
Two stripes show down length of wings
when sitting still. There are two red
very bright spots the size of holly ber-
rles at tips of wings. Tail is medium
length, with a yellow band showing
plainly when the bird is taking flight.
Tail is fan shaped
lhe soft brown I spoke of hardly
covers the color, as at first I thought
maybe they were young female cardinals.
AS far as I could see there was no diff
ference in color or markings to dis
tinguish the male from the female
Thank you for your interesting
Sincerely yours, w. c. s."
X X
This bird is the cedar waxwing. a
tolerably common permanent resident.
put mostly seen In focks in the spring.
Usually they do not stay here in the
summer
They belong to the bird group which
includes the waxwings and certain fly
catchers.
This bird loves apple blossom time.
At this time they eat petals, and con-
sumo canker worms and elm leaf beetles.
In some sections they are called
cherry birds because of their liking for
this fruit.
1t is sight, at this time, to see a.
row OF the birds on limb, one picking
the fruit, and then passing it along the
line. In this way all the waxwings are
served.
The baby birds are fed by regurgita-
tatlon. The food is mixture of in
sects and berries 1t Is said that thev
can bring back to the nest enough of
this food to supply a meal to an entire
nest.
Nesting takes place late, about the
middle OF June or even in the first part
OF July. The last nesting usually is in
September.
Ihese remarks apply both to the
ceoar and Bohemian waxwings. (The
latter seldom come here)
Inc red wax-like tips on the wings
are unique among birds
one observer saw band of waxwings
passing green worm around.
FIRST one bird took it in his bill. and
tnen another. In this way the morsel
passed along the line and back again
uhtH flnaly one bird dropped it. All
looked down, but no waxWing followed
IL was not known whether they had
nnally rejected the bit of food, or
whether this was just bit of careless
ness
-, lhls Is another species, along with
the starring, which puts on some Won
oer1ul spectacles of massed flight.
Ihey NY as If by one command, keep
ing together and turning together, and
ahghtlng on tree at exactly the same
moment
When these interesting habits are
combined with beauty, and a good dis
position, the resulting bird is one of the
best we have, and this is the waxwing,
who is not, however, much of a singer.
The beauty of the bird once stood it
In good stead, for bill to allow farm
ers to shoot it was defeated simply by
the introduction of one of the birds into
the legislative chamber. This was in
| Vermont, we believe.
Certainly no one who sees a cedar
Waxwlng close at hand would want to
harm 1t, because it is an altogether
| beautiful and fine bird, and one which
helps man by ridding his gardens Of
| many inimical insects.