numerously, in the Muonioniska and Kittila districts, and
so likewise in 1860. Since then its nests have been found
in the same tract almost every year, hut never, so far as
appears, in such inordinate numbers as in 1858, and but for
the discovery of 1856 its presence would most likely have
passed unnoticed as it doubtless had done before,* while,
according to HH. Palmen and Salilberg, in 1867 not a
single Waxwing was seen in the district.
Thus it would appear that the Waxwing is as irregular in
the choice of its summer as of its winter quarters, and the
causes which influence its movements still remain for the
investigation of the curious. Its diet varies according to
the season : in summer consisting mainly of insects, which
it catches on the wing, springing upon them from its lookout
station on the topmost twig of a tree, hut berries of
various kinds even then do not come amiss, while in winter
these alone form its food, and upon them it will literally
gorge itself, coming into suburban gardens to obtain them.
I t is a somewhat stupid and a remarkably silent bird, only
occasionally uttering a low call-note, which is trilling and
musical, but when gathered in large flocks the emission of
this from numerous throats makes a loud twittering noise.
In confinement it is especially dull, while its greediness
renders it a very unpleasing cage-bird.
Since the discovery which has shed so much light on the
history of the Waxwing, it has been found breeding in
places far apart. Wheelwright says he obtained eggs in
1862 from near Quickjock, and its nests have since been
taken in the valley of the Tana. Herr Collett gives good
reason for supposing that in certain years it breeds sporadically
in southern Norway, and it is believed to do the same
in many parts of Finland. There can also be no doubt of
its breeding on the shores of the White Sea and other places
in northern Russia, hut the statements as to its nests
having been built in Germany, Holland, and even (Zool. s.s.
* Wolley satisfied himself from the evidence of a few people that in some
former years the bird had been very abundant, but to the majority it was quite
unknown.
p. 1294) England must be regarded with much suspicion.
In America too its breeding-places have at last been discovered,
a nest with one egg having been found in 1861 by
Kennicott on the Yukon, and Mr. MacFarlane having met
with the like success on the Anderson River.
The eggs, from five to six or occasionally seven in number,
are very variable both in size and colour. They measure
from 1-11 to '82 by from '73 to '64 in., while a dwarf
specimen is only '64 by -52 in. Yet they bear a family
likeness to each other, and the mutual resemblance of those
laid in the same nest is almost always strong. The ground
is most generally of a delicate sea-green, sometimes fading
to french-white, but very often of a more or less pale olive,
and occasionally of a dull purplish-grey. On this are
almost always bold blotches, spots and specks of deep
brownisli-black, though sometimes the edges are blurred.
Beneath these stronger markings there is nearly always a
series of blotches or streaks of greyish-lilac, and among
them well-defined spots or specks of yellowish-brown are
interspersed. In some eggs the darkest markings are quite
wanting, in others the ground is of a deep olive colour.
In the adult male the bill is black, the edges at the base
light brown : the irides dark red : the forehead deep bay passing
into light brocoli-brown on the top of the head, whence
springs the fine crest; a black band runs from the nostrils
and base of the upper mandible, over the lore, round the
eye, and backward to the occiput underneath the c re st; ear-
coverts, nape and sides of the neck light brocoli-brown,
becoming darker on the scapulars, small wing-coverts and
back, and passing into brownish-grey on the rump and upper
tail-coverts; the coverts of the primaries black, tipped with
white, forming a conspicuous b a r ; primaries brownish-black,
with an elongated patch of white or yellow at the tip of the
outer web of more or fewer of them, except the first, which
patch in fine specimens extends along the tip of the inner
web ; the secondaries and tertials greyish-black, the former
tipped with pure white on the outer web—the shafts of four
or more of them generally terminating in a small, nail-like,