134 University of California Publications in Zoology (Vou. 30

Waxwings build their nests in scattered communities, so that where
one pair is found there are pretty sure to be others not far distant.
Within a few miles of Atlin there were several such groups, compris-
ing at least eight or ten pairs at each place. We collected but three
sets of eggs at these places, but evidently there was some more formid-
able enemy of the birds at work, for the waxwings gradually dis-
appeared, and not one young bird was reared in these colonies.

On July 15 we made the first of several visits to three small islands
opposite Atlin, and there we found waxwings in numbers, and nesting.
Apparently every pair that had started the breeding season on the
nearby mainland had moved out to the islands, where they seemed
free of whatever scourge it was that had destroyed their first nests.
We saw no Canada jays, no squirrels, and no chipmunks on the islands;
any or all of these may have been responsible for the shifting of the
birds.

On the mainland nests were all in jack pines, but on the islands they
were nearly all in small balsam firs. Mostly they were built low, ten
feet from the ground or less, and several were within reach from the
ground. During the third week in July nests held fresh eggs or
incomplete sets. Complete sets, on the islands and on the mainland,
ranged from four to six eggs.

On Otter Creek, July 26 to August 9, waxwings were occasionally
encountered, in small flocks, old and young together. During August
the species almost entirely disappeared, days and weeks passing with-
out one being seen. On September 7 a small flock was seen near
Gladys Lake, and on the 10th another flock between Gladys Lake and
Lake Teslin. Not seen subsequently, though the species might be
expected to remain until a much later date.

Three waxwings were collected (nos. 44894-44896), male and
female taken July 27, full grown but in juvenal plumage throughout,
and an adult male, August 5, not yet beginning the annual molt. The
young male has four large wax tips on each wing, the young female,
two small ones. Neither has the vivid orange tail tipping noted on
certain young birds from the Stikine River (Swarth, 1922, p. 279),
though the female shows an approach to that color.

Lanius borealis Vieillot. Northern Shrike
Our discovery of the northern shrike in the Atlin region establishes
this bird as a breeding species in extreme northern British Columbia,
though the previous capture of one by W. H. Osgood, for the U. S.