_Lanius garrulus_, LINN. “Fauna Suecica 2, no. 82.”—IB. Syst. Nat.
10th ed. 1758, 95. _Ampelis garrulus_, LINN. Syst. Nat. 12th ed.
1766, 297 (Europe).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 317; Rev.
405.—BOARDMAN, Pr. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. IX, 1862, 126 (Calais,
Me.).—COOPER, Pr. Cal. Acad. II, 1861 (1863), 122 (Fort Mohave,
Ar.). _Bombycilla garrula_, BON. Zoöl. Jour. III, 1827,
50.—RICH.—AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, 462, pl. ccclxiii.—IB. Birds Am. IV,
169, pl. ccxlvi.—MAYNARD, B. E. Mass., 107.—DALL & BANNISTER, 280
(Alaska).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 127.—SAMUELS, Birds N. Eng.
264. _Bombycilla garrula_, KEYS. & BLAS. Wirb. Europas, 1840,
167.—DEGLAND, Ornith. Europ. I, 1849, 349 (European).—WOLLEY, Pr.
Z. S. 1857, 55 (nest and eggs).—NEWTON, Ibis, 1861, 92, pl. iv
(nesting).—NORDMANN, Cab. Jour. VI, 1858, 307, and VII, 1859, pl.
i (nesting). (European.)
Other figures: BON. Am. Orn. III, pl. xvi.
[Illustration: PLATE XVIII.
1. Ampelis garrulus, _Linn._ ♂ Montana, 11055.
2. “ cedrorum, _Vieill._ ♂ H. B. T., 42622.
3. Phænopepla nitens, _Swains._ ♂ Cal., 8275.
4. “ “ “ ♀.
5. Myiadestes townsendi, _Aud._ ♂ Cal., 16168.
6. “ “ “ _juv._, N. T., 21444.]
SP. CHAR. Crest lengthened. Body generally soft, silky brownish-ashy,
with a purplish cast, the wing-coverts and scapulars more brownish,
becoming more reddish anteriorly and ashy posteriorly; the rump and
upper tail-coverts, as well as the secondaries, being nearly pure ash.
Anteriorly the color passes gradually into deep vinaceous-chestnut on
the forehead to behind the eye and on the cheeks; abdomen
yellowish-white. Lower tail-coverts deep chestnut. A stripe on side of
the head, covering the lores and nasal feathers (scarcely meeting
across the forehead), involving the eye and continued back toward the
occiput and beneath the crest, with a large patch covering the chin
and throat, deep black; a narrow crescent on lower eyelid, and a short
stripe between the black of the throat and that of the chin at the
base of the lower mandible, two very broad bars on the wing, one
across ends of primary coverts, and the other across ends of
secondaries (the first occupying both webs, and the latter the outer),
white. Primary coverts, primaries, and tail slaty-black, the latter
growing gradually ashy basally. A broad band across end of tail, and a
longitudinal space along end of outer web of primaries,
gamboge-yellow,—the marks on primaries, however, sometimes white, only
stained with yellow. Each of the secondaries with an expanded
continuation of the shaft, in form of flattened, very thin, somewhat
elliptical appendages, of a bright vermilion-red resembling red
sealing-wax. _Male_ with the white of outer web of primaries continued
around end of inner webs also. _Female_ without white on terminal edge
of inner webs of primaries, and with the “sealing-wax” appendages
smaller. _Young_ not seen. Length, 7.40; wing, 4.50; tail, 3.00.
[Line drawing: _Ampelis garrula._
19221]
HAB. Northern parts of Europe, America, and Asia. In America not
hitherto found in the Pacific Province. In winter extending along the
Rocky Mountains and the Plains as far south as Fort Massachusetts and
Fort Riley; regular visitor to shores of Lake Michigan and Lake Erie.
East of this rarely seen along the United States border. Fort Mohave
(???) (COOPER).
The specimen seen by Dr. Cooper, at Fort Mohave, if really of this
species, fixes the most western locality on record.
For many years authentic eggs of the Bohemian Chatterer were greatly
sought after, but it was not until 1856 that any were brought to the
notice of the scientific world, when the late Mr. H. Wolley discovered
them in Lapland. Early duplicates from his collection were sold at
five guineas each, and although a good many have since been obtained,
they are yet considered as great prizes. A nest, with its eggs, of
those collected by Mr. Wolley, has been presented to the Smithsonian
Institution by Mr. Alfred Newton. The only instances on record of
their discovery in America are of a nest and one egg by Mr. Kennicott,
on the Yukon, in 1861, and a nest and single egg on the Anderson
River, by Mr. MacFarlane, both of which, with the female parents, are
in the possession of the Institution. Although there is frequently
considerable difference between individuals, there appears to be no
difference between those from the two continents.
HABITS. The Waxwing is, in many respects, one of the most interesting
and remarkable of the birds of North America. The roving character of
its life, the mystery, still only imperfectly solved, of its habits
and residence during its breeding-season, and its somewhat
cosmopolitan residence in Europe, Asia, and America, impart to it an
interest that attaches to but few other species. Though not common in
any portions of the United States, and only appearing at all during
midwinter, yet in the more northern States, in which it is
occasionally found, it moves in such large flocks, and is so
noticeable and conspicuous a bird, that it never fails to make a
lasting impression, and hardly seems to us so very rare as it
undoubtedly is.
In a single instance, in midwinter, somewhere about 1844, during a
severe snow-storm, a large flock of these birds made their appearance
in Boston, and alighted on a large horse-chestnut tree that stood in
an open and retired place. There were at least twenty or thirty in the
flock; they remained in their shelter undisturbed for some time, and
their true specific character was plainly noticeable.
Several specimens were procured near Worcester, Mass., and given to
Dr. Bryant. Eleven individuals of this species were shot in Bolton by
Mr. S. Jillson, January, 1864, and others have since been noticed in
Watertown by Mr. William Brewster. They have also been obtained near
Hartford, Conn., by Dr. Wood.
Prior to this, as Mr. Audubon states, specimens had been procured near
Philadelphia, and in the winters of 1830 and 1832 several of these
birds were also shot on Long Island.
Mr. Boardman mentions that they are occasional, in winter, near
Calais; and Professor Verrill, who did not meet with it in Norway,
Me., cites it as accidental and rare in the State.
It is not common in the Arctic regions. Specimens of the bird were
obtained on Anderson River, in 1862, by Mr. MacFarlane, but he was not
able to find the nest. At Fort Yukon, July 4, Mr. Kennicott met with
the nest of this species. The nest, which contained but one egg, was
about eighteen feet from the ground, and was built on a side branch of
a small spruce that was growing at the outer edge of a clump of thick
spruces, on low ground. The nest was large, the base being made of
small, dry spruce twigs. Internally it was constructed of fine grass
and moose-hair, and lined thickly with large feathers. The female was
shot, as she rose from her nest, by Mr. Kennicott’s hunter, who had
concealed himself near the spot for that purpose. Mr. Kennicott had
seen the nest and both parents near it before it was taken, and had
thoroughly satisfied himself as to its complete identification.
Ross speaks of them as not rare throughout the district in which they
winter, but yet not numerous. He adds that at Great Bear Lake they are
very plentiful, and that they are reported to nest there. Mr. Dall
states that they were quite common at Nulato, where they did not
arrive before June 10, or later. He obtained a number of skins from
the Indians, taken in his absence. He adds that it breeds, and its
eggs have been obtained at Fort Yukon.
Except in a few instances, where Dr. Cooper noticed this species, in
September, at Fort Laramie, and also when he obtained an individual on
the Colorado, none of these birds have been seen west of the Rocky
Mountains. The bird obtained by Dr. Cooper was, in his opinion, a
straggler from some neighboring mountain. It made its appearance
January 10, after a period of stormy weather, and was shot while
feeding on the berries of the mistletoe.
This bird was first noticed in America, in the spring of 1826, near
the sources of the Athabasca River, by Mr. Drummond, and in the same
season by Sir John Richardson, at Great Bear Lake, latitude 65°. In
the latter region he states that they appeared in flocks about the
24th of May. At that time the spring thaw had exposed the berries of
the _Arbutus_ and the _Vaccinium_, that had been covered during the
winter. It stayed only a few days, and none of the Indians knew where
it bred, or had ever seen its nest. Afterwards, early in May, 1827,
Sir John Richardson saw a large flock of three or four hundred
individuals at Carlton House, on the Saskatchewan. They all alighted
in a grove of poplars, on one or two trees, making a loud twittering
noise. They stayed only about an hour in the morning, and were too shy
to be approached within gunshot.
In England they have been known to appear as early as August. They are
always shy, and not easily approached. In their activity and incessant
change of position and place, they are said to resemble the Titmice.
They feed on the berries of the mountain-ash, the hawthorn, and the
ivy. They will also feed on insects, catching them as dexterously as
Flycatchers. Their call-note is a single chirp, frequently repeated.
Mr. McCulloch, writing to Mr. Audubon, gives a touching account of the
devotion shown by one of these birds to its wounded mate. The latter
had been so crippled that it was hardly able to move. Its mate
stationed itself on the top of the tree in which it had sought
shelter, and with great vehemence continually uttered the notes
_tzee-tzee_, in alarm and warning, and, when danger approached, flew
against it and urged it on to flight, and stayed to share its fate,
rather than leave its partner.
The nest and eggs of this species remained entirely unknown until the
spring of 1856, when the late Mr. John Wolley, an enthusiastic English
oölogist, first discovered them in Lapland. The season was unusually
backward and cold, and the nests contained their full complement by
the 12th of June. One of the nests, obtained in Finland, June 19, 1861
(S. I., 5,327), contained five eggs. It is of remarkable size in
proportion to that of its builder, measuring eight inches in diameter.
It is flattened in shape, and its cavity, though large, is not deep.
The height of the nest is three and a quarter inches, and the depth of
the base is fully two and a half inches. The cavity is less than an
inch deep, and is four inches in diameter. The base and outer
periphery of this nest are of a coarse interlacing of the small ends
of branches of fir and spruce trees. Within this is built a close,
compact inner nest, chiefly composed of a lichen peculiar to Arctic
regions, called tree-hair, which hangs abundantly from the branches of
trees in northern forests. It resembles a mass of delicate black
rootlets. These are not uncommon ingredients in the nests of northern
birds, especially of European. In America, Arctic nests of the _A.
carolinensis_ are occasionally built of similar materials. With these
lichens are also mingled fragments of dry leaves and soft dark-colored
mosses. The rim of the nest is strongly made, almost exclusively of
these fine dark-colored lichens. This kind of lichen is not always
black, but is often brown, and even whitish. In some of these nests
silvery fibres of grass-leaves are mingled with the lichens, and in
one or two there is a slight lining of feathers.
The Lapland nests were built on the branch of a tree, at a distance
from the trunk, and stood up from it unsupported by the surrounding
twigs, and at the height of from six to twelve feet from the ground.
They were generally much exposed, and were, for the most part, built
in the more open portions of the forests. The general number of the
eggs was five, in one instance it was six.
The nest from the Yukon, obtained by Mr. Kennicott (S. Coll., 6,326),
is smaller, and bears but little resemblance to the European. It is
but five inches in diameter, of irregular shape. In height and cavity
it nearly corresponds. In place of the lichens of the European, this
nest is made of fine grass-stems, strips of bark, and a few feathers.
The eggs of this bird, the gift of Mr. Wolley, measure an inch in
length, and from .70 to .67 of an inch in breadth. Their ground-color
varies from a light slate to a yellowish stone-color. They are marked,
blotched, and dotted with spots of various hues and size. These are
chiefly of a dark purple, at times approaching black. Mingled with
these are markings of a yellowish-brown. Nearly all these spots are
surrounded by a peculiar penumbra, or shading, such as forms so marked
a feature in the eggs of the common Cedar-Bird.
The egg obtained by Kennicott on the Yukon is smaller than the
European specimen, measuring .90 by .65 of an inch. Its ground is more
of a greenish-slate or stone-color, and the spots are of a dark brown,
with a deep violet shading.
Ampelis cedrorum, SCL.