CATBIRD. 19 
orchard that slopes down to the edge of Mill 
River. Here he is welcomed every year by his 
college girl friends; and in the open seclusion of 
an apple-tree proceeds to build his nest and raise 
his little family, singing through it all with keen 
enjoyment of the warm sunshine and his own com- 
pany. 
To the tyro the catbird is at once the most in- 
teresting and most exasperating of birds. Like 
some people, he seems to give up his time to the 
pleasure of hearing himself talk. A first cousin 
of the mocking-bird — whom he resembles in per- 
son much more than in voice — perhaps the re- 
lationship accounts for his overweening confidence 
in his vocal powers. As a matter of fact his jerky 
utterance is so harsh that it has been aptly termed 
asthmatic. 
The catbird is unmistakably a Bohemian. He 
is exquisitely formed, and has a beautiful slate- 
gray coat, set off by his black head and tail. By 
nature he is peculiarly graceful, and when he 
chooses can pass for the most polished of the 
Philistine aristocracy. But he cares nothing for 
all this. With lazy self-indulgence he sits by the 
hour with relaxed muscles, and listlessly drooping 
wings and tail. If he were a man you feel con- 
fident that he would sit in shirt sleeves at home 
and go on the street without a collar. 
And his occupation? His cousin is an artist, 
but he —is he a wag as well as a caricaturist, or 
