Catbird. 181 



near his quarters undetected; and you will stop to listen 

 with wondering ears as you peer among the tangled 

 bushes to catch a glimpse of the virtuoso, who is ap- 

 parently practicing for a public effort in the future. You 

 will not be caused to wait and look long, however, before 

 the performer himself will glide into view. 



The sweet notes of this accomplished musician are heard 

 not only throughout the day, but frequently the overflow- 

 ing melody of some individual will cause it to sing late in 

 the night. During the first week of May, 1896, while 

 camping near the Illinois Eiver, my restless ears at mid- 

 night caught the rich strains of a catbird rising from a 

 point across the river, forming the leading part in a med- 

 ley furnished by the whip-poor-will, yellow-breasted chat, 

 wood pewee, and other love-lorn troubadours. 



A striking element in the song of the catbird is its un- 

 certain continuity. On a lazy summer morning or after- 

 noon, while you are swinging in your hammock in some 

 shady nook, the dreamy lyrics of a catbird in an adjacent 

 lilac will arise, and you congratulate yourself that you are 

 about to be entertained by a recital of choice melody. To 

 your disappointment, the music ceases abruptly after sev- 

 eral introductory notes. The musician was only "tuning 

 up," perhaps you imagine, for soon he begins again. This 

 time he may get well along and have gained your rapt 

 attention, when again, in the very midst of a delicious 

 measure, the melodious flow suddenly ends, and the char- 

 acteristic cat- cry erases much of the pleasant impression 

 made by theunfinished song. 



In many localities the catbird is known as the " gray 

 mocking-bird." It does frequently attempt to imitate the 

 notes and cries of certain animals, yet it is an indifferent 

 mimic, the harsh imitations it produces usually being onlj^ 

 inharmonious contrasts to its own choicer melody. Bobort 

 Eidgway says of the catbird : ''He at times gets tired of 

 his own voice, and substitutes other sounds which he has 

 heard. These he imitates with tolerable success; but the 

 sounds which he most affects, as the squeal of a young 

 pig, the squeaking of a hinge, or the squall of a cat, are 

 harsh interpolations of a song which might otherwise be 

 pleasing." 



