CAT-BIRD. 333 



to inhabit Kamtschatka, and consequently penetrate very 

 far to the north. Throughout this extent, and to the 

 territory of the Mississippi, they likewise pass the period 

 of incubation and rearing their young. They remain in 

 New England till about the middle of October," at which 

 time the young feed principally upon wild berries. 



The Cat-bird often tunes his cheerful song before the 

 break of day, hopping from bush to bush, with great 

 agility after his insect prey, while yet scarcely distin- 

 guishable amidst the dusky shadows of the dawn. The 

 notes of different individuals vary considerably, so that 

 sometimes his song, in sweetness and compass, is scarce- 

 ly at all inferior to that of the Ferruginous Thrush. A 

 quaintness, however, prevails in all his efforts, and his 

 song is frequently made up of short and blended imita- 

 tions of other birds, given, however, with great emphasis, 

 melody, and variety of tone ; and, like the Nightingale, 

 invading the hours of repose, in the late twilight of a 

 summer's evening, when scarce another note is heard, 

 but the hum of the drowsy beetle, his music attains its 

 full effect, and often rises and falls with all the swell and 

 studied cadence of finished harmony. During the heat 

 of the day, or late in the morning, the variety of his song 

 declines, or he pursues his employment in silence and 

 retirement. 



About the 25th of May, one of these familiar birds 

 came into the Botanic Garden, and took up his summer 

 abode with us. Soon after his arrival he called up in low 

 whisperings the notes oiiheWhip-poor-unll, the Red Bird, 

 the peto peto of the Tufted Titmouse, and other imitations 

 of southern birds, which he had collected on his leisure- 

 ly route from the south. He also soon mocked the 

 'tshe-1/dh Hshe-yah of the little Acadian Flycatchers, with 

 which the neighbourhood now abounded. He frequent- 



