164 Sketches of Some Common Birds. 



similar to the calls of young grackles iii their nests, or 

 the calling of the kingrail, with less intensity. Then he 

 varied his performance by a loud, clumsily executed imi- 

 tation of the mewing of the house cat, from which the 

 novice might have suspected that the concealed performer 

 was a catbird; but no catbird ever uttered so odd a jar- 

 gon of abrupt, smothered whistles and choked detona- 

 tions as issued from the throat of the loquacious songster. 

 Some parts of the quaint productions reminded me of the 

 imitations of the mocking-bird, but they lacked all the 

 sweet, sympathetic qualities and softly varied modulations 

 of that past-master of wildwood song. After some min- 

 utes of cautious peering through the intervening shrub- 

 bery, and some strategic movements to gain better points 

 of view, I detected the active musician — a bird somewhat 

 smaller than the catbird, though apparently of stouter 

 build — dodging among the foliage of the tangle. 



Seen at rest for a few moments, when he takes a station 

 toward the upper branches of a large tree and delivers 

 Jiis quaint medley before dropping headlong into his 

 covert, the chat is a handsome, showy bird, with glossy 

 olive-green upper parts and rich j^ellow breast, the other 

 under parts showing white. He is certainly thoughtfully 

 named, both as to his yellow breast and his title of chat; 

 for his volubility, though of a sputtering sort, establishes 

 his right to the latter portion of the title. His generic 

 name, Icteria, reminds us of the yellow of his breast, and 

 his specific name of virens refers to the green tinge of his 

 back; hence, if we can remember his technical name and 

 its meaning, we can always think of his showy colors in 

 the same connection. On the other hand, when we learn 

 to know the bird and can picture his handsome appear- 

 ance, we may be able to recall his scientific title by think- 

 ing of his colors. The ])artially successful imitations and 

 the varied repertoire of the chat have caused him to be 

 styled the "yellow mocking-bird" in many localities; but, 

 judged by the standard of real melody, he ranks rather 

 low in the list of songsters, in my estimation. 



Robert Ridgway gives the home of the yellow-breasted 

 chat as eastern United States ; north to the Connecticut 

 Yalley and Great Lakes; west to the borders of the 



