LAND BIRDS. 659 



Geol. Surv., 1908, 380). It lingers rather late in the fall, passing southward 

 in September and October, occasionally lingering in the southern counties 

 until about November first. 



It is partial to swampy thickets and brushy woods and coppices in 

 low ground everywhere, but is also a constant frequenter of gardens, parks 

 and orchards, and in fact seems to have a predilection for the vicinity of 

 man. 



The nest is a conspicuous structure of twigs, grapevine-bark, rootlets, 

 grasses, leaves and similar materials, lined almost always with black 

 rootlets, and placed usually in thick bushes, shrubs or vines, often close 

 to the house, but also very commonly in the depths of swamps or the 

 edges of deep woods. Frequently in parks and cemeteries the birds select 

 thick evergreens, especially arbor vita? and Norway spruce, but by far 

 the larger number of nests are placed in lilacs, syringas, honeysuckles, 

 rosel^ushes, grapevines and other convenient places in the shrubbery 

 about gardens and lawns. 



The Catbird is a remarkable singer and is regarded by many as second 

 only to its near relative the Mockingbird. The song possesses great sweet- 

 ness and variety, but lacks the force of its famous relative. Often the 

 Catbird will sing steadily for half an hour or more from the same perch, 

 or at least from the same bush, with almost no intermission, but at other 

 times it introduces the most incongruous notes, especially the mewing 

 notes which have given it the name of Catbird and those harsher notes 

 which Bicknell descril:)es as a "short, sharp crackling sound, like the 

 snapping of small faggots." It sings early and late, and with added zest 

 during rain}^ weather. It has also l)een known to sing at night, though 

 not regularly. 



The eggs are three to five, of a deep bluish-green color, without spots, 

 and average .93 by .69 inches. The first nest in middle Michigan is built 

 toward the last of May, and fresh eggs are most commonly found during 

 the first week in June, but a second brood is almost invariably reared, 

 and eggs may be found late in June or during the first half of July. 



The food of the Catbird has caused a vast amount of discussion, the 

 opinions expressed being almost as numerous and diverse as those in 

 regard to the Robin. It eats immense numbers of insects, but also consumes 

 large quantities of fruit, but not all the insects eaten are injurious, nor 

 are all the fruits valuable. The bird seems partial to wild fruits, devouring 

 blackberries, raspberries, elderberries, sassafras berries, and those of the 

 spice-bush, as well as various species of cornel, viburnum and other shrubs, 

 together with the bei'ries of the Virginia creeper and grape, as well as 

 occasionally all other cultivated fruits. 



Long ago (1879) Professor S. A. Forl)es reported on the stomachs of 

 twenty-eight Catbirds which he examined carefully, showing that those 

 collected in May had eaten nothing but insects, those in June Init 64 percent 

 of insects, while in July small fruits formed 63 percent of the food and 

 injurious insects only about 15 percent. In summing up his results he 

 said: "If all Catbirds ate like this at all seasons of the year we should 

 certainly class them with curculios and potato beetles as most grievous 

 pests. As far as the ten birds taken in July indicate anything they seem 

 to me to indicate that the Catbird is, to say the best t)f him, a blessing 

 pretty thoroughly disguised." In 1881 and 1882, twenty-five Catbirds 

 were examined by Forbes, which had been taken in various parts of Illinois. 

 Cankerwoi'ms had been eaten l)y only eight ])irds and formetl but 15 percent 



