Part 39

Description.—About the size of a Barn Swallow; outer web of outer primary with tiny recurved hooks along the entire edge, noticeable when the thumb or finger-nail is drawn along it; these hooklets are sometimes absent in the female; the purpose they serve is not known. Adults: Above brownish gray, quite dark on wings and tail; throat and breast pale brownish gray; belly white. Immature: Similar, but the outer web of the outer primary has no hooklets and the gray of the throat and breast is sometimes washed with reddish brown. Length: 5¾inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—A rather rare, somewhat local, and never abundant summer resident from April 15 to September 1, found almost altogether in the more southern and less mountainous counties.

Nest.—Of grasses and weed-stalks, lined with finer materials, but not with feathers, placed at the end of a burrow in a bank, as is the Bank Swallow’s, or in crevices in rocks along a stream, in abutments of bridges, or sometimes in pipes about dwellings which stand near streams. Eggs: 3 to 6, white.

The Rough-wing’s graceful, sweeping flight is less fluttering than that of the Bank Swallow. All of the swallows usually allow fairly close approach and therefore should not be difficult to identify.

CEDAR WAXWING Bombycilla cedrorum Vieillot

Other Names.—Cherry Bird; Cedar Bird.

Description.—Plumage soft and silken; feet rather short and small; head with high crest; bill small. Adult male: Head, neck, breast, and back, glossy olive-brown; forehead and line through eye, chin, and throat, black; a white line extending backward from lower mandible to beneath eye; black forehead bordered behind with white; wings, rump, and tail, blue-gray; secondaries tipped with small waxen appendages; tail prominently tipped with pale yellow; sides and belly sulphur-yellow; under tail-coverts whitish; bill, feet, and eyes, black. Female: Similar, but usually lacks the waxen appendages on the secondaries. Young birds: Similar, but with only a small crest and noticeably streaked. Waxen appendages sometimes occur on the secondaries of the female as well as on the tips of the tail-feathers in both sexes. Length: A little over 7 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—An erratic and irregular permanent resident, being sometimes abundant, sometimes absent for several seasons; usually seen in flocks.

Nest.—Neatly built of weed-stems, twigs, and fibers, lined with softer materials, placed in a tree, usually from 12 to 20 feet from the ground, and toward the end of the branch. Nesting often takes place rather late in summer. I have seen a female sitting upon her eggs as late as September 11. Eggs: 3 to 6, blue-gray, spotted with black.

The Cedar Waxwing’s trim form and sleek plumage make him an outstandingly handsome bird. He has no song, however, giving forth only a fine, shrill eeeeeeee, which is scarcely audible to some observers. A flock of these plump-bodied birds sometimes sit in a tree-top, their feathers fluffed out. They catch insects like flycatchers. Sometimes they indulge in a queer little dance. In a cherry tree which is full of fruit, they sometimes pass tid-bits between them in a strangely deliberate, polite fashion. They are very fond of cedar berries, poke berries, and the fruits of the Virginia creeper, but the name “Cherry Bird” is well earned. Remember the crest, the upright carriage, the flocking tendency, and the yellow-tipped tail of this species. The waxwings are the only birds which have their tails tipped with yellow.

The Northern or Bohemian Waxwing (Bombycilla garrula) is to be found rarely in winter. Records of this species in Pennsylvania are very desirable. It is like the Cedar Waxwing in color, but is larger; the under tail-coverts are rich reddish brown, and the wings are marked with a white patch on the primary coverts, white tips on the secondaries, and white and yellow edgings on the primaries. When Bohemian Waxwings appear they are likely to be docile and unsuspicious, and will therefore give the observer an excellent opportunity to identify them satisfactorily.

NORTHERN SHRIKE Lanius borealis Vieillot

Other Name.—Butcher Bird.

Description.—Size of Robin, but with larger head and large, strongly hooked bill; sexes similar. Adults: Top of head, hind neck, and back, light gray, lightest along outer edges of scapulars and fading into white on rump and upper tail-coverts; line above eye, white; broad line through eye to ear-coverts, wings and tail, black; tips of the secondaries, base of the primaries, and tips of outer tail-feathers, white; underparts finely barred with light gray; bill, feet, and eyes, black. Young birds: Brownish gray, with dark brown wings and tail which are marked with white much as in the adults. The underparts are finely barred with brownish. Length: 10½ inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—Rather rare winter visitant from late October or November to March. It is found chiefly in the northern counties in more or less open regions.

The shrike’s striking black and white plumage will suggest a Mockingbird. Its harsh cries have a sinister quality, however, suggesting a bird of prey. The heavy, hooked bill and strong feet assist it in capturing the mice, small birds, and insects which are its food, and which it impales on thorns or on barbed wire. Records of this species are desirable.

MIGRANT SHRIKE Lanius ludovicianus migrans W. Palmer

Other Name.—Butcher Bird.

Description.—Smaller than Robin, with proportionally large head and strongly hooked bill; sexes similar. Top of head, hind neck, and back, clear gray, shading into whitish at outer edges of scapulars and on rump and upper tail-coverts; wings and tail black; tips of secondaries, base of primaries, and tips of outer tail-feathers, white; broad band through eye back to ear-coverts, black; underparts white, grayer on breast and belly, which are not barred.

Range in Pennsylvania.—A rather rare and local migrant and summer resident from early March to November, nesting chiefly in the Lake Erie coastal region and elsewhere in flat, open country.

Nest.—A bulky affair made of twigs, lined with feathers, placed in a thorn tree not far from the ground. Eggs: 3 to 6, white, spotted with gray or olive-gray.

When a Shrike moves from one perch to another, it drops to within a few inches of the ground and moves along with characteristic buzzing flight, at which times its gray, black, and white plumage is conspicuous. In the field its head appears large, and it is given to perching in prominent barren places, on the top of a tree or on a wire.

THE VIREOS

The Vireos are a difficult group for the beginner. They are dull in color, they come at a time when other birds are abundant, and they do not, for the most part, have particularly noticeable songs. In identifying the Vireos it is well to remember that all of them move deliberately, turning the head from side to side pensively, and crawling about the branches in a very characteristic fashion. No Vireo has any white in the tail, as have many of the otherwise similarly colored warblers. Note that the first three species have no wing-bars; the other three have two wing-bars.

RED-EYED VIREO Vireosylva olivacea (Linnæus)

Other Name.—Preacher Bird.

Description.—Size of English Sparrow. Adults: Top of head blue-gray; line above eye white, bordered above with a blackish line; line through eye blackish; rest of upperparts olive-green; underparts whitish, washed with olive-green and pale yellowish on sides; eyes reddish or red-brown. Young: Similar, but duller. Length: 6¼ inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—Abundant migrant and summer resident from late April or early May to late September and October.