Wayne: Birds of South Carolina. 181 



282. Dumetella carolinensis (Linn.). Catbird. 



Audubon says of this species in Birds of America: '■ 



They pass in abundance through Georgia and the Carolinas early in September. 

 On their return in spring, they reach the neighbourhood of Charleston about the 

 20th of March, when they feed on insects found along the lanes and garden-walks; 

 but none are heard to sing, or are found to breed there. 



From this statement one would assume that the Catbird does 

 not winter nor breed along the coast, which is in a measure 

 erroneous, as it winters regularly, in small numbers, where gall- 

 berry bushes are plentiful, the fruit of which appears to be its 

 chief winter food. That the birds occasionally breed is proven 

 by the fact that I have taken a nest and three or four eggs in May, 

 1879 or 1880, in the yard of Mr. D. C. Ebaugh in Charleston. 

 This is the only nest that has come under my observation during 

 the past twenty-five years. The Catbird is exceedingly abun- 

 dant during the migration, and especially in the months of Septem- 

 ber and October, when hundreds can be seen in tangled thickets 

 along roads in the course of a short walk. 



The eggs are dark greenish blue, and are said to range from 

 three to six in number, measuring .95 X -71 . Although I have seen 

 this species as late as the middle of May, I have never heard it sing. 



The Catbird breeds abundantly in the interior of the State. 



283. Toxostoma rufum (Linn.). Brown Thrasher. 



To my ear the song of the Brown Thrasher is sweeter, richer, 

 and wilder than the Mockingbird, and as a musician he is simply 

 incomparable. He is at his best during the month of April 

 and the early part of May and from the top of a towering dead 

 pine he pours forth his wild song which thrills the senses. 



This well-known bird is a permanent resident and breeds 

 sparingly and locally along the coast where there are thickets of 

 briars and bushes bordering woods and roads. It used to breed 

 regularly in the beautiful grounds of Mr. D. C. Ebaugh, but I 

 doubt if it now breeds in the city of Charleston. Two broods 

 are annually reared and possibly three as I have seen young birds 

 in August. 



The nest is constructed of sticks and leaves, lined with root- 

 lets, and is placed in a low bush or thicket of briars, seldom more 

 than six feet above the ground. The eggs, which are generally five 



> II, 195-196. 



