138 CITIZEN BIRD 



" I can hear the words as phiiii as anything," said 

 Nat ; "if I only understood his hmguage ! " 



"That is the difficulty," said the Doctor; "if some 

 kind bird would write a dictionary for us we should 

 soon learn a great many strange things." 



" Roger, the gardener, says that Catbirds are bad 

 things and if he had his way he would shoot them. 

 He says they bite the strawberries and grapes and 

 things, even when he is looking at them," said Dodo. 



" There is some truth in \Yhat Roger says," replied 

 the Doctor, "but on the other hand, the Catbird, be- 

 sides being a merry garden neighbor and musician, 

 which in itself is enough to pay his rent, belongs as 

 a citizen to the Tree Trappers and Ground Gleaners, 

 and is also a great sower of wikl fruits. Though he 

 does provoke us at times by taking a bite from the 

 largest berries in the bed, yet he really prefers wild 

 fruits if he can find them. So it is better for us to 

 protect our grape arbors and strawberry beds with nets 

 and bits of brig^ht tin strung^' on twine to frio^hten him 

 away from them, than to lose him as a friend and insect 

 destroyer. 



" Surely his song is worth a few handfuls of cher- 

 ries. Then he is such a quick-witted, sympathetic bird, 

 always willing to help his neighbors when they have 

 trouble with Crows or squirrels. And when half a dozen 

 pairs of Catbirds choose the garden for their home, 

 you may be sure that they will furnish fun as well as 

 music." 



" Why does he jerk his tail so? " asked Dodo. 



" It is a trick that all the family have," said the 

 Doctor, "from which some of them are supposed to 



