Catbird. 179 



CATBIRD. 



Though ranking with the bluebird, robin, and house 

 wren in familiarity, the catbird falls far below them in 

 the list of general favorites. However, it has much to 

 recommend it to public favor. Its figure is trim and ele- 

 gant, its movements are agile and graceful, its song is 

 sweet and modulated, and its manners, though at times 

 familiar and not strictly moral from our point of view, 

 are modest and confident. Yet withal, its noiseless, almost 

 sneaking manner of flight, and its harsh cat-cry, have 

 produced popular prejudice against it, which all of its 

 more amiable traits have failed to overcome. John Bur- 

 roughs says, '* That feline mew of hers, and that flirting, 

 flexible tail, suggest something not entirely bird-like." 



Thus the catbird seems to be the victim of a well-estab- 

 lished prejudice, not only among men, but also among its 

 feathered companions. Its arrival into a group of song- 

 sters of other species silences their music and causes their 

 departure one by one from the spot. It seems to have 

 taken the hint, and usually avoids the snubs of other 

 birds by keeping aloof from them whenever possible 

 without going directly out of its way. When it chooses 

 to feed on the wild grapes and the berries of the Virginia 

 creeper, with which our undisturbed forests are laden, it 

 selects a time when other birds are not feeding on them, 

 or a vine where they are not congregated. Its life is more 

 or less independent of bird society, yet it lives well and 

 appears to pursue its way with quiet indifference to what 

 its neighbors think or say of it. 



The habitat of the catbird is eastern North America to 

 the western base of the Rocky Mountains, ranging north- 

 wardly to latitude 54°. It is resident in the Southern 

 States. The winter quarters of our Northern catbird are 

 around the Gult of Mexico and south to the Isthmus of 

 Panama. It is recorded as breeding throughout its range. 



As migrants the catbirds are rather late in their arrival 

 in this region, being seldom seen here (39° 20') before 

 April 24th, and averaging even later. Robert Ridgway 

 notes their appearance at Mt. Carmel, Illinois, April 18th 



