. Cassell's book of birds . ost THE SINGING BIRDS. 173 other members of the feathered creation inhabiting extreme climates, these birds are heavy andindolent, rarely exerting themselves except to satisfy their hunger, and appearing unwilling to moveeven to a short distance from their usual haunts. With their companions they live in uninterruptedharmony, and during their migrations testify no fear of man, frequently coming down to seek for foodin the villages and towns they pass over, without apparently regarding the noisy bustle of the during their winter journeyings, they settle
. Cassell's book of birds . ost THE SINGING BIRDS. 173 other members of the feathered creation inhabiting extreme climates, these birds are heavy andindolent, rarely exerting themselves except to satisfy their hunger, and appearing unwilling to moveeven to a short distance from their usual haunts. With their companions they live in uninterruptedharmony, and during their migrations testify no fear of man, frequently coming down to seek for foodin the villages and towns they pass over, without apparently regarding the noisy bustle of the during their winter journeyings, they settle frequently, and pass the entire day indolentlyperching in crowds upon the trees, remaining almost motionless for some hours together, onlydescending in the morning and evening to procure berries, in search of which they climb frombranch to branch with considerable dexterity. Their flight is light and graceful, being effected byvery rapid strokes of the wings. Upon the ground they move with difficulty, and rarely alight upon. THE SILK-TAIL, BOHEMIAN CHATTERER, OR WAX-WING (Bombycilla gamtfa). its surface, except when in search of water. Their call-note is a hissing, twittering sound, verysimilar to that produced by blowing down the barrel of a key. The song, though monotonous andgentle, is uttered by both sexes with so much energy and expression as to produce a pleasing effect,and may be generally heard throughout the entire year. Insects unquestionably constitute theprincipal food of the Silk-tails during the warmer months, but in winter they subsist mainly uponvarious kinds of berries. So voracious is this species, that, according to Naumann, it will devoni-an amount of food equal to the weight of its own body in the course of twenty-four hours. Whencaged, it sits all day long close to its eating-trough, alternately gorging, digesting, and sleeping,without intermission. Until the last few years we were entirely without particulars as to theincubation of the Silk-tail, and have
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Keywords: ., bookauthorbreh, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectbirds
