Identifier: cu31924000070809 (find matches)
Title: Bird studies for home and school; sixty common birds, their habits and haunts
Year: 1911 (1910s)
Authors: De Groat, Herman C
Subjects: Birds
Publisher: Buffalo, N. Y., Herman C. De Groat
Contributing Library: Cornell University Library
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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ter spending the winter just far enough south to avoidvery cold weather, the Cedar-birds appear in the NorthernStates early in April. They come in small flocks flying justabove the tree-tops in regular and compact order. Both inflying and in alighting, their movements are made with theregularity of soldiers, every one doing the same thing inexactly the same way. Were they under the control of amaster spirit they could not be more uniform in their actions. Several of them will range themselves in line upon asingle limb, thus tempting a sportsman to kill them all at asingle shot. Sitting together in their glossy cinnamon-browncoats and lofty caps, with wax-tipped wings and yellow-bandedtails, these birds present one of the most beautiful sights innature. Often while a flock is at rest, one of them will riseand, whirling in the air, snatch a passing insect like a trueFlycatcher, after which it will quickly take its place in lineagain. The gentle, affectionate ways of the Wax-wings are 66
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249 CEDAR VVAX\\ ING.7 Life-size. seldom equaled among birds. They will carefully dress oneanothers feathers, and while doing it, throw in a few caressesfor good measure. So far does this kindness extend that onebird may deny itself the pleasure of eating a nice fat worm inorder to pass it to its companions, all of whom may do thesame polite thing. The mating does not take place until late in June whenthe flocks break up and the nesting begins. These birds seemto wait for the fruits on which they feed their young to ripenbefore beginning their nests. The female and the youngclosely resemble the male bird, which is not a common occur-rence among the highly colored birds. The farmer is not partial to the Cedar-bird, or Cherry-bird as he calls it, because it sometimes helps itself to a fewearly cherries and other small fruits of the garden. He maynot know that his loss is overbalanced by the help which thebird gives him in the spring, when it feeds on the Canker-worm, so injurious to elm

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