226 THE CATBIRD. 



however, it becomes very sprightly and noisy. With tail well 

 spread and crown-feathers erect, it hops and flits about the 

 thickets, the edges of the woods, the swamps and the thick 

 shrubbery of the garden, the most wide-awake bird in all 

 these haunts. Upon the slightest alarm, it will mew like 

 a scared kitten, imitating this feline mammal .so perfectly 

 that no one would attribute the sound to the throat of a 

 bird. Again, it startles one with its song, which is very 

 spirited indeed, and in the sweetest tones, but so hurriedly 

 uttered that it would seem impossible to catch its full 

 meaning. Unquestionably this song may contain pretty 

 distinct imitations of the voices of other birds, but I fail .to 

 detect that general and well-pronounced capacity of a 

 Mockingbird so often attributed to it. Why need he repeat 

 the melodies of his neighbors, his own song, like that of the 

 Brown Thrush, which it greatly resembles, is sweet enough 

 of itself. It differs most materially, however, from the song 

 of the Thrushes proper — birds to which our singer, the 

 Brown Thrush, and the distinguished Mockingbird, are 

 so closely related as to be regarded by ornithologists as a 

 branch of the same family. When the Wood Thrush sings 

 he seems to breathe out his very soul in a thoughtful 

 melody. There is a musical idea in every note. He is the 

 Mozart or Beethoven of his class. He sings because he 

 cannot help it. He sings to the forest, to the stream, and 

 to the evening star. The Catbird sings on purpose. There 

 is no sentiment whatever in his performance. It is wholly 

 a play upon tones, a trick of the vocal organs; and, as has 

 been justly said, always implies a listener, always betrays 

 self-consciousness. The notes of the Wood Thrush inspires 

 solemnity, and may bring one into a mood for religious 

 devotion; those of the Catbird awaken risibility, and put 

 the spirit of fun and mischief into one. 



