Bird Study 99 



the mellow song of the cardinal, which is a rare visitor in New York, but 

 there was no mistaking the "tor-re-do, tor-re-do." I sprang from my bed 

 and rushed to the window only to see a catbird singing the cardinal song, 

 and thus telling me that he had come from the sunny South and the 

 happy companionship of these brilliant birds. Often when the catbird is 

 singing, he sits on the topmost spray of some shrub lifting his head and 

 depressing his tail, like a brown thrasher; and again, he sings completely 

 hidden in the thicket. 



In appearance the catbird is tailor-made, belonging to the same social 

 class as the cedar-bird and the barn swallow. However, it affects quiet 

 colors, and its well-fitting costume is all slate-gray except the top of the 

 head and the tail which are black ; the feathers beneath the base of the 

 tail are brownish. The catbird is not so large as the robin, and is of very 

 different shape; it is far more slender and has a long, emotional tail. 

 The way the catbird twitches and tilts its tail, as it hops along the ground 

 or alights in a bush, is very characteristic. It is a particularly alert and 

 nervous bird, always on the watch for intruders, and the first to give 

 warning to all other birds of their approach. It is a good fighter in 

 defending its nest, and there are several observed instances where it has 

 fought to defend the nest of other species of birds; and it has gone even 

 further in its philanthropy, by feeding their orphaned nestlings. 



The catbird chooses a nesting site in a low tree or shrub or brier, where 

 the nest is built usually about four feet from the ground. The nest looks 

 untidy, but is strongly made of sticks, coarse grass, weeds, bark strips 

 and occasionally paper; it is lined with soft roots and is almost always 

 well hidden in dense foliage. The eggs are from three to five in number 

 and are dark greenish-blue. Both parents work hard feeding the young 

 and for this purpose destroy many insects which we can well spare. 

 Sixty-two per cent, of the food of the young has been found, in one instance 

 to be cutworms, showing what a splendid work the parents do in our 

 gardens. In fact, during a large part of the summer, while these birds 

 are rearing their two broods, they benefit us greatly by destroying the 

 insect pests; and although later they may attack our fruits and berries, it 

 almost seems as if they had earned the right to their share. If we only 

 had the wisdom to plant along the fences some elderberries or Russian 

 mulberries the catbirds as well as the robins would feed upon them instead 

 of the cultivated fruits. 



The catbirds afford a striking example for impressing upon children 

 that each species of birds haunts certain kinds of places. The catbirds are 

 never found in deep woods nor in open fields, but always near low thickets 

 along streams, and in shrubbery along fences, in tangles of vines, and 

 especially do they like to build about our gardens, if we protect them. 

 They are very fond of bathing, and if fresh water is given them for this 

 purpose, we may have opportunity to witness the most thorough bath a 

 bird can take. A catbird takes a long time to bathe and preen its feathers 

 and indulges in most luxurious sun baths and thus deservedly earns the 

 epithet of "well-groomed;" it is one of the most intelligent of all our birds 

 and soon learns "what is what," and repays in the most surprising way 

 the trouble of careful observation. 



