CATBIRD 341 



observers. The list includes blue jay, bobwhite, flicker, robin, barn 

 swallow, goldfinch, rose-breasted grosbeak, veery, wood thrush, red- 

 eyed, yellow-throated, and solitary vireos, brown thrasher, greater 

 yellowlegs, least flycatcher, crested flycatcher, wood pewee, cowbird, 

 chewink, scarlet tanager, and black-polled warbler. A. A. Saunders 

 (MS.), who has given particular attention to the imitations of the 

 catbird, lists many of the above and in addition the red-shouldered 

 hawk, killdeer, phoebe, bluebird, blue-headed vireo, redstart, the 

 yellow, magnolia, black-throated blue, black-throated green, chestnut- 

 sided, and prairie warblers, western meadowlark, and cardinal. He 

 has also heard the catbird imitate the tree frog {Hyla versicolor) . 

 Many other imitations have been reported. It is apparent that the 

 range of its imitations are limitless. This enterprising bird is ever 

 on the alert and is constantly experimenting in the mimicking of any 

 note, song, or sound that it may hear. However, only a comparatively 

 few are so versatile, and not every individual catbird indulges in such 

 extensive mimicry. 



The song of the catbird has never impressed me as conveying the 

 expression of sadness, yet that is the way it appealed to the Chippewa 

 Indian naturalist who named it Ma-ma-dive-hi-ne-shi^ meaning the 

 bird that cries with grief. 



In correspondence received from Francis H. Allen he writes: 

 "Catbirds vary more than most birds in their powers of song. One 

 year I had one on my place in West Roxbury, Mass., that hardly ever 

 sang anything more than one, two, or three short phrases at a time, 

 usually only two, which I memorized as William-see-me. Sometimes 

 it was William and nothing more. Again my catbird another year 

 may be one with an astonishing repertoire, including sweet phrases 

 of his own and a number of striking imitations. One of these accom- 

 plished musicians imitated the crested flycatcher, wood pewee, blue 

 jay, tow^hee (song), scarlet tanager (song), red-eyed vireo (song), 

 black-poll warbler (song), brown thrasher, and robin. Sometimes a 

 catbird will surprise one with a wholly original and unexpected vocal 

 performance. On May 15, 1942, the catbird that had sung fairly 

 steadily near my house for some days was silent almost all day but 

 in the afternoon broke his silence with a succession or raucous, quite 

 unmusical, and uncatbirdlike notes of varied character but always 

 high-pitched and often repeating the same note or phrase many times 

 in succession. These notes were delivered in the manner of a song, the 

 bird being stationary and with no other bird nearby. Sometimes the 

 bill was open and sometimes to all appearances closed, but the pulsa- 

 tions of the throat were always plain to be seen. It was as if this 

 bird had lost his voice, but later I heard some ordinary catbird strains 

 from him. 



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