(Ampelis cedrorum.)

The cedar waxwing, or cherry bird (fig. 17), inhabits the whole of the United States, but is much less common in the West. Although the great bulk of the species retires southward in winter, the bird is occasionally found in every State during the colder months, especially if wild berries are abundant. Its proverbial fondness for cherries has given rise to its popular name, and much complaint has been made on account of the fruit eaten. Observation has shown, however, that its depredations are confined to trees on which the fruit ripens earliest, while later varieties are comparatively untouched. This is probably owing to the fact that when wild fruits ripen they are preferred to cherries, and really constitute the bulk of the cedar bird's diet.

In 152 stomachs examined animal matter formed only 13 and vegetable 87 per cent, showing that the bird is not wholly a fruit eater. With the exception of a few snails, all the animal food consisted of insects, mainly beetles—and all but one more or less noxious, the famous elm leaf-beetle being among the number. Bark or scale lice were found in several stomachs, while the remainder of the animal food was made up of grasshoppers, bugs, and the like. Three nestlings were found to have been fed almost entirely on insects.

Of the 87 per cent of vegetable food, 74 consisted entirely of wild fruit or seeds and 13 of cultivated fruit, but a large part of the latter was made up of blackberries and raspberries, and it is very doubtful whether they represented cultivated varieties. Cherry stealing is the chief complaint against this bird, but of the 152 stomachs only 9, all taken in June and July, contained any remains of cultivated cherries, and these aggregate but 5 per cent of the year's food. As 41 stomachs were collected in those months, it is evident that the birds do not live to any great extent on cultivated cherries.

Although the cherry bird is not a great insect destroyer, it does some good work in this way, since it probably rears its young mostly upon insect food. On the other hand, it does not devour nearly as much cultivated fruit as has been asserted, and most, if not all, of the damage can be prevented. The bird should therefore be considered a useful species, and as such should be accorded all possible protection.