CATBIRD 331 



It remained within the limits of a little swamp among the hills which 

 was completely surrounded with woods. The bushes were overrun 

 with catbrier filled with berries. There was an abundance of moun- 

 tain-ash and bittersweet, which furnished a full larder for this winter- 

 ing bird. W. H. Ball (1927) observed a catbird near Washington, 

 D. C, during December and January 1925-26, which he found was 

 subsisting chiefly on the berries of the honeysuckle vines. A. W. 

 Schorger (1926) collected a catbird at Madison, Wis., on December 

 20, the stomach of which was filled with the fruit of the climbing; 

 bittersweet. Witmer Stone (1913b), in presenting the records of 

 William Bartram, cites the record of a catbird that was seen and 

 heard singing in Bartram 's garden on January 8, 1820. On the next 

 day it was seen feeding on the berries of Sideroxylon; although a 

 violent storm raged on January 10 and the snow covered the ground 

 the bird still remained, evidently attracted by the berries. P. A. 

 Taverner (1919) states that the catbirds observed by him in the 

 Red Deer River district. Alberta, fed chiefly on buffaloberries. Otto 

 Widmann (1907) states that the late migrants in fall congregate in 

 the region of St. Louis to feed on wild grapes. H. Brackbill (1942) 

 studied the food habits of a catbird at Baltimore, Md., from Novem- 

 ber 3, 1940, until February 23, 1941. Feeding was observed on 23 days, 

 during which five foods were eaten, including the Japanese honey- 

 suckle, which was eaten on 21 days from December 1 through Febru- 

 ary 23. The latter was eaten in great quantities, at one time he saw 

 the bird eat 30 of the berries in 22 minutes in addition to other food. 

 It was also seen to eat the haws of the cockspur thorn, frost grapes, 

 and seeds of poison ivy and sumac. 



In Florida, where the catbird is a regular though not abundant win- 

 ter resident, various observers have reported the birds subsisting on 

 holly, poke, and smilax berries, balsam apples, and Barbados cherries, 

 and stomachs of catbirds collected at Micco, Fla., were found to contain 

 the seeds of the saw palmetto. It is obvious from the foregoing 

 representative reports that the catbird can adapt itself to a purely 

 vegetable diet, and this accounts for the surprising number of winter 

 records over a wide range, even in sections of the country where cold 

 weather and snow prevail. 



From an economic standpoint the vegetable diet of the catbird as 

 a whole does not represent a serious loss. Under certain conditions 

 the growers of berries, grapes, cherries, and other fruits do have a 

 just grievance. According to F. E. L. Beal (1897) , most of these com- 

 plaints come from the Mississippi Valley where fruit-bearing shrubs, 

 which afford such a large part of the bird's food, are conspicuously 

 absent. With the settlement of the region comes the extensive plant- 

 ing of orchards, vineyards, and small fruit gardens, which furnish 

 shelter and nesting sites for the catbird and other species. There is 



