. Birds of village and field: a bird book for beginners . reoccupied with anxiety itallowed itself to be taken in the hand, and whenset at liberty would not leave till its companionwas freed to go with it. In caring for the young,the Waxwings show great watchfulness. Theyfeed by regurgitation. Their food has been much discussed. In someplaces they are known as Cherry-birds, but culti-vated cherries have been found in only 9 out of152 stomachs examined, which, as Professor Bealsays, hardly justifies the reputation which thebird has gained as a destroyer of cherries. Headds that this supposed ch
. Birds of village and field: a bird book for beginners . reoccupied with anxiety itallowed itself to be taken in the hand, and whenset at liberty would not leave till its companionwas freed to go with it. In caring for the young,the Waxwings show great watchfulness. Theyfeed by regurgitation. Their food has been much discussed. In someplaces they are known as Cherry-birds, but culti-vated cherries have been found in only 9 out of152 stomachs examined, which, as Professor Bealsays, hardly justifies the reputation which thebird has gained as a destroyer of cherries. Headds that this supposed cherry habit, to the care-less and unobservant, would condemn the bird todestruction, but the closer observer looks shows that more than half of thewhole food of the Cedar-bird consists of wildfruit which has no value, and that one eighth ofits food consists of insects, among which are someof the worst pests of the country. Furthermore,since the nestlings are fed largely on insects, thegreatest number of insects are eaten when fruit. Plate VIII. — WAXWING Crest and whole body soft fawn-color ; area around bill velvetyblack ; tail tipped with yellow band ; wings often tipped withflecks of red, like sealing-wax. Length, about 7^ inches. WAX WING 143 is most abundant. The Cedar-bird eats cater-pillars, spiders, and grasshoppers, but does mostmarked good in destroying the elm leaf-beetlethat strips our village and city trees of Mary Treat writes of one town in which theelms had been ruined for several years before theCedar-birds came, and which were afterward com-paratively free from beetles. From one calcula-tion, it is shown that 30 Cedar-birds would de-stroy 9,000 worms during the month when thecutworm caterpillar is exposed. To i^revent the Cedar-bird from eating culti-vated fruit, and to attract it to secure its help indestrojang caterpillars, it would be well to plantthe common bushes upon whose berries it feeds,such as blackberry, wild cher
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1898
