THE OOLOGIST 



115 



Cats. 

 Do not overlook the fact that at this 

 season of the year cats destroy a very 

 large proportion of the young birds 

 that are hatched within the towns of 

 the country. Every dead cat is a good 

 cat. None others are. If you love 

 the birds shoot the cats. 



The Yellow-breasted Chat. 



(Icteria virens) 



In northern New Jersey wherever 

 the wayside and bypaths are bordered 

 with low thickets and where this bird 

 is sure of escaping detection, this 

 chatterbox of the warbler family is 

 sure to be heard in outbursts of var- 

 ied musical strains and gutteral notes 

 such as would do justice to any of the 

 Mimidae, the true mockers. 



This strange but handsome bird, in 



addition to its sedentary vocabulary, 

 has a very ludicrous flight song which 

 in this locality he very seldom utters 

 and one must visit and be his com- 

 panion many times before they will 

 detect him in the act of performing 

 it. 



However, upon their arrival with 

 us, which takes place between May 

 10th and 15th, this bird becomes a 

 regular and common inhabitant of its 

 chosen habitats throughout this sec- 

 tion throughout the summer until 

 September 20th at which time they de- 

 part for the South without ceremony 

 or ado. ^^ 



Towards the end of May the observ- 

 er may find their nests in various lo- 

 cations always at low elevations and 

 never very far from a ready supply 



Cerulean Warbler's Nest Fifty feet up. May 31. 1500 



