as the “silk-tail” (Philos. Transactions, 1685, p. 1161)—a literal rendering of the German Seidenschwanz—or “chatterer”—the prefix “German,” “Bohemian” or “waxen” being often also applied. Selby’s convenient name has now been generally adopted, since the bird is readily distinguished from almost all others by the curious expansion of the shaft of some of its wing feathers at the tip into a flake that looks like scarlet sealing-wax, while its exceedingly silent habit makes the name “chatterer” wholly inappropriate, and indeed this last arose from a misinterpretation of the specific term garrulus, meaning a jay (from the general resemblance in colour of the two birds), and not referring to any garrulous quality. It is the Ampelis garrulus of Linnaeus and of more recent ornithologists, and is the type of the Passerine family Ampelidae.
The waxwing is a bird that for many years excited vast interest. An irregular winter-visitant, sometimes in countless hordes, to the whole of the central and some parts of southern Europe, it was of old time looked upon as the harbinger of war, plague or death, and, while its harmonious coloration and the grace of its form were attractive, the curiosity with which its irregular appearances were regarded was enhanced by the mystery which enshrouded its birthplace, and until the summer of 1856 defied the searching of any explorer. In that year, however, all doubt was dispelled through the successful search in Lapland, organized by John Wolley, as briefly described by him to the Zoological Society (Proceedings, 1857, pp. 55, 56, pl. cxxii.).[1] In 1858 H. E. Dresser found a small settlement of the species on an island in the Baltic near Uleåborg, and with his own hands took a nest. It is now pretty evident that the waxwing, though doubtless breeding yearly in some parts of northern Europe, is as irregular in the choice of its summer-quarters as in that of its winter-retreats. Moreover, the species exhibits the same irregular habits in America. It has been found in Nebraska in “millions,” as well as breeding on the Yukon and on the Anderson river.
Beautiful as is the bird with its full erectile crest, its cinnamon-brown plumage passing in parts into grey or chestnut, and relieved by black, white and yellow—all of the purest tint—the external feature which has invited most attention is the “sealing-wax” (already mentioned) which tips some of the secondary or radial quills, and occasionally those of the tail. This is nearly as much exhibited by the kindred species, A. cedrorum—the well-known cedar-bird of the English in North America—which is easily distinguished by its smaller size, less black chin-spot, the yellower tinge of the lower parts and the want of white on the wings. In the A. phoenicopterus of southern-eastern Siberia and Japan, the remiges and rectrices are tipped with red in the ordinary way without dilatation of the shaft of the feathers.
Both the waxwing and cedar-bird seem to live chiefly on insects in summer, but are marvellously addicted to berries during the rest of the year, and will gorge themselves if opportunity allow. They are pleasant cage-birds, quickly becoming tame. The erratic habits of the waxwing are probably due chiefly to the supplies of food it may require, prompted also by the number of mouths to be fed, for there is some reason to think that this varies greatly from one year to another, according to season. The flocks which visit Britain and other countries outside the breeding range of the species naturally contain a very large proportion of young birds. (A. N.)
WAYCROSS, a city and the county-seat of Ware county,
Georgia, U.S.A., about 96 m. S.W. of Savannah and about 60 m.
W. of Brunswick. Pop. (1880) 628; (1890) 3364, (1900) 5919
(2899 negroes), (1910) 14,485. Waycross is served by the Atlanta,
Birmingham & Atlantic, and The Atlantic Coast Line railways,
several branches of the latter intersecting here. In the city is
the Bunn-Bell Institute (Baptist, opened in 1909). There are
large railway car construction and repair shops here, and Waycross
is a commercial centre for the forest products (naval stores
and lumber) and the cotton, sugar cane, sweet potatoes, melons
and pears of the surrounding country. The municipality owns
the water-works, the water-supply being obtained from artesian
wells. Before the passage of the state prohibition law Waycross
secured virtual prohibition of the sale of intoxicating liquors by
requiring a large liquor license fee ($20,000 in 1883, increased
to $30,000 in 1892). Waycross was settled in 1870, was first incorporated
in 1874 and became a city in 1909.
WAYLAND, FRANCIS (1796–1865), American educationist,
was born in New York City on the 11th of March 1796. His
father was an Englishman of the same name, who was a Baptist
pastor. The son graduated at Union College in 1813 and studied
medicine in Troy and in New York City, but in 1816 entered
Andover Theological Seminary, where he was greatly influenced
by Moses Stuart. He was too poor to conclude his course in
theology, and in 1817–1821 was a tutor at Union College, to
which after five years as pastor of the First Baptist Church of
Boston he returned in 1826 as professor of natural philosophy.
In 1827 he became president of Brown University. In the
twenty-eight years of his administration he gradually built
up the college, improving academic discipline, formed a library
and gave scientific studies a more prominent place. He also
worked for higher educational ideals outside the college, writing
text-books on ethics and economics, and promoting the free
school system of Rhode Island and especially (1828) of Providence.
His Thoughts on the Present Collegiate System in the
United States (1842) and his Report to the Corporation of Brown
University of 1850 pointed the way to educational reforms,
particularly the introduction of industrial courses, which were
only partially adopted in his lifetime. He resigned the presidency of Brown in 1855, and in 1857–1858 was pastor of the First Baptist Church of Providence. He died on the 30th of September 1865. He was an early advocate of the temperance and antislavery causes, for many years was “inspector of the state prison and Providence county jail,” president of the Prison Discipline Society, and active in prison reform and local charities. He was one of the “law and order” leaders during the “Dorr Rebellion” of 1842, and was called “the first citizen of Rhode Island.” His son Francis (1826–1904) graduated at Brown in 1846, and studied law at Harvard; he became probate judge in Connecticut in 1864, was lieutenant-governor in 1869–1870, and in 1872 became a professor in the Yale Law School, of which he was dean from 1873 to 1903.
Besides several volumes of sermons and addresses and the volumes already mentioned, he published Elements of Moral Science (1835, repeatedly revised and translated into foreign languages); Elements of Political Economy (1837), in which he advocated free-trade; The Limitations of Human Responsibility (1838); Domestic Slavery Considered as a Scriptural Institution (1845); Memoirs of Harriet Ware (1850); Memoirs of Adoniram Judson (1853); Elements of Intellectual Philosophy (1854); Notes on the Principles and Practices of Baptist Churches (1857); Letters on the Ministry of the Gospel (1863): and a brief Memoir of Thomas Chalmers (1864).
See The Life and Labors of Francis Wayland (2 vols., New York, 1867) by his sons Francis and Heman Lincoln; the shorter sketch (Boston, 1891) by James O. Murray in the “American Religious Leaders” series, and an article by G. C. Verplanck in vol. xiv. of the American Journal of Education.
WAYLAND THE SMITH (Scand. Völundr, Ger. Wieland), hero of romance. The legend of Wayland probably had its home in the north, where he and his brother Egill[2] were the types of the skilled workman, but there are abundant local traditions of the wonderful smith in Westphalia and in southern England. His story is told in one of the oldest songs of the Edda, the Völundarkviða, and, with considerable variations, in the prose Ƿiðrekssaga (Thidrek’s sage), while the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf and Deor’s Lament contain allusions to it. The tale of Wayland falls naturally into two parts, the former of which contains obviously mythical features. He was the son of the giant sailor Wate and of a mermaiden. His grandfather was that Vilkinus, king of Norway, who lent his name to the Vilkina- or Ƿiðrekssaga. Three brothers Völundr, Egill and Slagfiþr seized the swan-maidens Hlaþguþr, Olrún and Hervor, who, divested of their feather dresses, stayed with them seven or eight years as their wives. The second part of the story concerns Völundr, lord of the elves, the cunning smith, who, after learning his art from Mime, then from the dwarfs, came to the court of King Níþoþr, and there defeated in fight the smith Amilias. Völundr’s sword, Mimung, with which he won this victory, was one of the famous weapons in German epic poetry. In the Dietrich cycle it descended to
