482 Birds of Colorado 



about 8,000 feet, but not so commonly. It reaches Colorado from 

 the south about the second week in May. The following are migration 

 records : Baca co., May 12th (Warren), Fort Lyon, May 8th — 14th 

 (Cooke), Salida, May 14th (Frey), El Paso co., May 10th (Allen & 

 Brewster), Denver, May 12th (Henshaw), Loveland, May 11th (Cooke). 

 Breeding records are : Boulder co. (Gale), Barr Lake (Hersey & 

 Rockwell), Middle Park (Carter apud Cooke), Fort Garland, 7,900 feet 

 (Henshaw), Fort Lewis (Morrison & Gilman). 



Habits. — ^The Cat-bird is apparently somewhat more 

 shy and silent in the west than it is in the east ; it haunts 

 thick shrubberies, and is not often seen, nor is its cat-like 

 mew so often heard. It feeds chiefly on insects, and 

 though fond of fruit, the damage it does in this respect 

 is largely outweighed by its insecticidal propensities. 



The nest is generally placed in willows or other low 

 bushes along the borders of a creek ; it is built of coarse 

 stems, decayed leaves and strips of inner bark and grasses, 

 with a hning of fine roots, and the whole made up in a 

 wet state, according to Gale's notes. The eggs, usually 

 four in number, are blueish-green, and measure about 

 •94 X "67. Dille gives June 12th as an average date 

 for fresh eggs ; Gale, in Boulder co., found nests with 

 unincubated eggs through the whole of June and up 

 to July 3rd. 



Genus TOXOSTOMA. 



Bill either longer than the head and curved throughout or shorter 

 than the head and straight, but the culmen at least equal to or longer 

 than the middle toe without claw ; wings quite short and rounded, 

 markedly shorter than the tail, which is distinctly graduated ; feet 

 stout, tarsus strongly graduated. 



A very considerable American genus, with about eight species in 

 the United States, chiefly in the drier south-western districts. 

 Key of the Species. 



A. Above rich rufous ; below heavily spotted with dusky. 



T. rufum, p. 483- 



B. Above greyish-brown ; below very faintly marked with dusky. 



T. bendirei, p. 484. 



