Page:Condor7(4).djvu/12

 July, 9o5 [ NOTIS ON THE BOHEMIAN WAXWING 99 streets and they are encouraged to keep well above the ground by the small boy-- to whom they are known as "'cedar quails"--who hunts them with his vicious "flipper." Later in the season, however, they come lower. Three years ago on several occasions numbers of these birds fed on crab apples that had been buried by the snow in our front yard. As the snow melted, leaving .the apples in 'sight, the birds ate them with great relish. Many times during the winter just past, waxwings have come into our back yard and fed on the apples which were left on on the trees for just such visitors. As I write these words, a flock of thirty-five waxwings are feeding in the apple trees, less than two.rods from my study window. There must be something about these apples that produces thirst,- for the birds will feed for a time, and then drop do'wn to the irrigating ditch nearby, drink, and return to the apples. Back and forth they fly--from food to water--many times in the course of a half hour. Nor are these birds restricted to dried up apples, seeds of locust trees, and tender buds of the poplar trees. Not infrequently during the sunny days of winter, I have seen these "chatterers" dash out from fifty to a hundred feet from the tree tops where they were congregated, and return directly to the point of departure. On such occasions, one after another--a half dozen or a dozen at a time--will dart out and up, with the rapid wing stroke and straight flgtit 6f th e ki'-ngbird, snap Up'the insect of which they were in pursuit and re- rum to'their pl/ades in the poplars. Usually, unless the chase carried' them too far from the'starting point, they describe a graceful circle and sail back to the tree, in this'respect als0;reminding one of the kingbird. '.Upon the return of these hunters to th.e tree they ever failed to receive ..fri>m  their. waiting comrades, "burring" wotds'of commendation, elicited,, no dotbt, by their cleverness and success..I haye seen the coder bird in New England, late in August, indulging its flycatching pro- clivties, but to find its rare and beautiful relative doing the same thing in .Utah , in January, was a novel experience to me. The Bohemian waxwings are gregarious; they move about only in flocks, large or small, save in breeding time. I have seen.flocks, here in the city, num- bering from t5 o to 3o0 birds. On one of the coldest, days of the winter of t9o3-'o4 I happened upon a flock, which occupied the tops of several poplars, and in which there were nearly 320 birds. Often fifty to one hundred are to be seen. Toward spring, they seem to break up into smaller flocks. When one of the larger flocks takes possession of the bare tops of some of our tall poplars, and are seen from 'a distance, the birds appear like some strange "slugs" clinging to the branches. These birds are of a quiet, gentle disposition and appear to be possessed of the instincts, tastes, and refinement which always characterize well-bred folk. They love the society of their kind--and soon learn to know their hunran friends--and are s.ociable and welldisposed in their relations one with another. When not feeding, they sit quietly, all facing one direction, and appear to be looking about them, as if i n intelligent appreciation and enjoyment of their surroundings. They never indulge in unseemly squabbles, and, with rare exceptions, always conduct themselves with dignity and propriety. in fact, their politeness, and seeming con- sideration of one another is really remarkable, surpassing in these respects, the cedar bird. In this connection is suggested the rather amusing statement, made by at least two writers on ornithological subjects, concerning the cedar bird. Neltje Blanchan, in "Bird Neighbors," quotes Nuttall as saying that he "has often seen them (cedar birds) passing a worm from one to another down a whole row of beaks and back again before it was finally eaten." Wm. Rogers Lord, in his "A First Book upon the Birds of Oregon and Washington," evidently following the writer just quoted, uses almost precisely the same language, making Nuttall re- sponsible for this incident. The only trouble with these statements is that they