dozens may be killed at a single shot; but if this opportunity is lost,
the next moment after they alight, the whole group is in motion, dispersing
over every bough to pick the berries which attracted them from the
air. Their crest is now erected, their wings are seen constantly moving,
and so eagerly do they grasp at the berries that they suffer many of them
to fall. Every flock passing within hearing is invited to join in the
feast, and in a few hours the tree is entirely stripped of its fruit. In
this manner they search the whole of the forests, and towards winter are
even satisfied with the berries of the Dog-wood. As the cherries and
mulberries ripen in the Middle Districts, the Cedar Bird pays them
frequent visits, and when these are out of season, the blackberries and
huckleberries have their turn. After this, the Cedars supply a new
and favourite food. I think the name of Fruit-devourers would be more
applicable to these birds than that of Chatterers, which they bear among
naturalists.
They are excellent fly-catchers also, spending much of their time in
the pursuit of winged insects. This is by way of dessert, and is not managed
with the vivacity or suddenness of true Fly-catchers, but with a
kind of listlessness. They start from the branches, and give chase to the
insects, ascending after them for a few yards, or move horizontally towards
them, perhaps rather farther than when ascending, and as soon as
the prey is secured, return to the spot, where they continue watching
with slow motions of the head. Towards evening, this amusement is
carried on for half an hour, or an hour at a time, and is continued
longer at the approach of autumn, the berries then becoming scarcer.
These birds come from the north, but the furthest place from which
they have started I am unable to tell. They reach the Middle Districts
about the beginning of April, and begin to pair in the beginning of
June, when thousands of young birds of other species have already
left the nest. Their favourite place for their nest is generally the branch
of an Apple-tree in the Orchard, its horizontal direction being apparently
best adapted for their taste, although here they are frequently very
insecure, the nest being seldom higher than ten feet from the ground, and
often so low as to be seen into. It is composed of coarse grasses externally,
and is lined with a finer kind. The female usually lays four eggs,
of a purplish white, marked with black spots, which are larger towards
the great end. The young are at first fed on insects, but after a week
the parents procure different kinds of fruits for them. The Cedar Bird
CEDAR B I R D. 2 2 9
nestles less frequently in the low lands than it does in the upper parts of the
countrv, preferring the immediate neighbourhood of mountains. These
birds are more careful of themselves during the intrusion of strangers to
their nest, than perhaps any other species, and sneak off, in a very unparented
manner, quite out of sight, without ever evincing the least appearance
of sorrow on the occasion. I have not been able to ascertain whether
they raise more than one brood in a season.
When wounded by a shot, they fall to the ground as if dead, and remain
there in a stiffened posture, as if absolutely stupid. When taken
up in the hand, they merely open their bill, without ever attempting to
bite, and will suffer a person to carry them in the open hand, without
endeavouring to make off. Their crest at such times is laid flat and
close to the head. It is lowered or raised at the will of the bird, but
more usually stands erect. Their plumage is silky. The females do
not exhibit the waxen appendages on the wings so soon as the males ; but
these appendages form no criterion as to the sex. I have seen males and
females with them, both at the extremities of the scapulars and tailfeathers,
seldom more than two or three attached to the latter, whilst
there were five or six at the former. Very few of these birds remain the
whole winter in the Middle States.
Now, kind reader, can you give a reason why these birds are so tardy
in laying their eggs and rearing their young ? It cannot be through
want of fruit for the food of their progeny, as the young birds, being at
first fed on insects, might continue to be so, at a season when these
abound, and as the old birds themselves evince pleasure at seizing them
on the wing on all occasions.
Bo>mYCII. i ,A C A R O L I N E N S I S , Briss. vol. ii. p. 337.—Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds
of t h e United States, p. 5 9 .
A M P E L I S G A R R U L U S , var. Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 297.—Lath. Ind. Ornith.
vol. i. p. 3 6 4 .
C H A T T E R E R O F C A R O L I N A , Lath. Synops. vol. iii. p. 93.
C E D A R B I R D , A M P E L I S A M E R I C A N A , Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. i. p. 107. Fig. 1.
Adult Male. Plate XLIII. Fig. 1.
Bill short, straightish, broader than deep at the base, compressed towards
the end; upper mandible convex in its dorsal outline, with the
edges sharp, overlapping, and marked with a notch close upor the decli