MIMIC THRUSHES 



179 



not ail unmusical or infL'rior pertorniance. On 

 the contrary, it is undoubtedly one of the most 

 interesting of bird utterances, and usually con- 

 tains many melodious phrases as well as piquant 

 musical flourishes. In it one may hear repro- 

 duced the characteristic tones of the tlute. iiiccolo, 

 and clarionet, as well as the violin and even the 

 higher tones of the cello. Other birds' notes, or 

 fragments of their songs, which are more or less 

 perfectly reproduced are those of the \\'ood 

 Thrush, the Robin, the Song Sparrow, the House 

 \\'ren, the Oriole, and even the Whip-poor-will. 

 \\'ith these, as Mr. Mathews says, "the yowl of 

 the cat is thrown in any where, the guttural re- 

 marks of the frog are repeated without the 

 slightest deference to good taste or appropriate- 

 ness, and the harsh squawk of the old hen, or the 

 chirp of the lost chicken, is always added in some 

 malapropos manner. .Ml is grist which cnmes 

 to the Catbird's musical mill, and all is groun<l 

 out according to the bird's own wav of think- 

 ing." 



Reports from the Mississippi vallev indicate 

 that the Catbird is sometimes a serious annov- 

 ance to fruit growers. Tlie reason for such re- 

 ports may possibly be found in the fact that on 

 the prairies fruit-bearing shrubs, which afford so 

 large a part of this bird's food, are conspicuouslv 

 absent. With the settlement of this region came 

 an extensive planting of orchards, vineyards, and 

 small fruit gardens, which furnish shelter and 

 nesting sites for the Catbird as well as for other 

 species. There is in consequence a large increase 

 in the numbers of the birds, but no corresponding 

 gain in the supply of native fruits upon which 

 they were accustomed to feed. Under these 

 circumstances what is more natural than for the 

 birds to turn to cultivated fruits for their food ? 

 The remedy is obvious: cultivated fruits can be 

 protected by the simple expedient of planting 

 the wild species which are preferred by the birds. 

 Some experiments with Catbirds in captivitv 

 show that the Russian mulberrv is preferred to 

 any cultivated fruit. 



The stomachs of 645 Catbirds were examined 

 and found to contain 44 per cent, of animal 

 (insect J and 56 per cent, of vegetable food. 

 .\nts, beetles, caterpillars, and grasshoppers con- 

 stitute three-fourths of the animal' food, the re- 

 mainder being made up of bugs, miscellaneous 

 insects, and spiders. One-third of the vegetable 

 food consists of cultivated fruits or those which 

 may be cultivated, as strawberries, raspberries, 

 and black-berries : but while we dcliit the bird 



Photu by R. I. BrasliLT 



NEST AND EGGS OF CATBIRD 



with the whole of this, it is probable — and in 

 the eastern and well-wooded jiart of the country 

 almost certain — that a large part is obtained 

 from wild vines. The rest of the vegetable 

 matter is mostly wild fruit, as cherries, dogwood, 

 sour gum, elderberries, greenbrier, spiceberries, 

 black alder, sumac and poison ivy. Although the 

 Catbird sometimes does considerable harm bv 

 destroying small fnu't, it cannot on the whole be 

 considered injurious. On the contrary, in most 

 parts of the country it does far more good than 

 harm. 



BROWN THRASHER 

 Toxostoma rufum (Lijiiunis) 



A. n. U. Number 705 See Color Tlate 10 



Other Names.— Thrasher ; Brown Thrush; Red 

 Thru.sh ; Fox-colored Thrush ; Sandy Mocker ; Sandy 

 Mockingbird; French Mockingbird; Brown Mocker; 

 Brown Mockingbird; Ground Thrush; Mavis; Red 

 Mavis ; Song Thrush. 



General Description. — Length, 11 inches. Upper 

 parts, brown ; under parts, buffy, streaked with dark. 

 Bill, about length of head, curved downward at the 

 end ; wings, rather short and rounded ; tail, decidedly 

 longer than win,g and rounded. 



