I7.S 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



There- is more of the cat about the Catbird than 

 his cat-hke call, if birds may be trusted to know 

 their enemies and to treat them accordingly. For, 

 especially during the nesting season, his feathered 

 neighbors are often seen mobbing him with every 

 show of anger and hatred ; and, what is more, he 

 acts as if he knew he deserved it. That is, when 

 he is set upon by a pack of Robins, Sparrows, 

 and Bluebirds, and ordered to be gone, he goes, 

 and stands not on the order of his going. Further- 

 more, besides his most nnbird-like snarl, his 



observers. Then his self-consciousness and his 

 vanity are both apparent and amusing. 



As a singer, the Catbird may be ranked third 

 in the remarkably gifted Mirnic-Thrush trio, of 

 which the Mockingbird is easily first and the 

 Brown Thrasher a good second. Attentive 

 listeners probably will agree that there is a funda- 

 mental resemblance between the songs of these 

 birds, in that each is a prolonged effort, lacking 

 anything like definite construction or consistent 

 rhythm — a mere jumble of notes, varying 



Ccjurlesy of Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 

 CATBIRD (J nat. size) 

 He is a distinct personality in bird land 



manners are often distinctly feline, and liis habit 

 of slinking through the bushes in which small 

 birds have nests is decidedly suspicious. In short, 

 he is accused of being a nest-robber, and it 

 seems more than likely that the charge can be 

 substantiated. Mr. Burroughs, indeed, says he 

 has " seen him do it." 



All this is a great pity, for the Catbird is a 

 distinct personality in bird land, and withal an 

 interesting, if a somewhat pert one. He seems 

 to be very well aware that he is an accomplished 

 and versatile vocalist ; in fact, no American bird 

 displays more plainly a desire to " show oflf." 

 Witness his posing and attitudinizing when he es- 

 tablishes himself atop a bush, where he 

 apparently desires to be the observed of all 



greatly in volume as well as tonal character, and 

 many of them either actually imitative, or at 

 least reminiscent of the calls or parts of the 

 songs of other birds. 



The Catbird is given third rank in this trio be- 

 cause his song is likely to include harsh notes of 

 various kinds — some of them imitative — 

 whereas the percentage of such tones is negligible 

 or altogether absent from the characteristic songs 

 of the Thrasher and the Mocker. Somebody 

 has said that the Catbird " sings Chinese," which 

 is rather clever, since there is a certain resem- 

 blance between his erratic potpourri and the 

 queer half -musical, half -guttural ups and downs 

 of the Celestial's speech. Despite the foregoing 

 comparisons and comments the Catbird's song is 



