The EUROPEAN or COMMON SILK-TAIL, BOHEMIAN CHATTERER, or WAX-WING (_Bombycilla garrula_) is eight inches long and thirteen and a half broad. The plumage is almost entirely reddish grey, darkest upon the back, and shading into greyish white beneath; the brow and rump are reddish brown; the chin, throat, bridles, and a streak over the eyes black; the primary quills are greyish black, spotted with gold on the tip of the outer, and edged with white upon the inner web; the secondaries are furnished with parchment-like or horny plates at their extremities, which are bright red; the tail-feathers are blackish at their lower portion, light yellow towards their extremities, and terminate in horny plates, resembling those upon the secondary quills. In the female the colours are fainter, and the horny appendages much less developed than in the plumage of her mate. The young are almost entirely dark brown, with light edges to many of the feathers; the brows and a stripe that passes from the eyes to the back of the head, a streak across the light reddish yellow throat and the rump are whitish, while the lower tail-covers are of a dusky rust-red. [Illustration: THE COLLARED OR WHITE-NECKED FLY-CATCHER (_Muscicapa albicollis_).] [Illustration: THE SILK-TAIL, BOHEMIAN CHATTERER, OR WAX-WING (_Bombycilla garrula_).] The Common Silk-tail is an inhabitant both of Northern Europe and of North America, but is found only occasionally in some parts of Asia, being replaced in that continent by its Japanese congener, the _Bombycilla phœnicoptera_; while in America the CEDAR BIRD (_Bombycilla cedrorum_) is more numerously met with. In the northern portions of Europe, birch and pine forests constitute its favourite retreats, and these it seldom quits, except when driven by unusual severity of weather or by heavy falls of snow to seek refuge in more southern provinces. Even in Russia, Poland, and Southern Scandinavia it is constantly to be seen throughout the entire winter; indeed, so rarely does it wander to more southern latitudes that in Germany it is popularly supposed to make its appearance once in seven years. On the occasion of these rare migrations, the Silk-tails keep together in large flocks, and remain in any place that affords them suitable food until the supply is exhausted. Like most other members of the feathered creation inhabiting extreme climates, these birds are heavy and indolent, rarely exerting themselves except to satisfy their hunger, and appearing unwilling to move even to a short distance from their usual haunts. With their companions they live in uninterrupted harmony, and during their migrations testify no fear of man, frequently coming down to seek for food in the villages and towns they pass over, without apparently regarding the noisy bustle of the streets. Even during their winter journeyings, they settle frequently, and pass the entire day indolently perching in crowds upon the trees,