THE PERCHING BIRDS. 51 



a deal of argument about this, but every one who 

 disputes my assertion is too lazy to prove it for him- 

 self or has not wit enough to reach any conclusion. 



Cat-birds, as we have seen, are migratory. They 

 love the sunny south, and are on their way as soon 

 as the frosts of October dull the green meadows and 

 paint the forest; but of late there have been some 

 that are too lazy or have changed their mind. They 

 linger now in New Jersey, in sheltered places, few in 

 numbers, of course, feeding on the berries of the 

 greenbrier. But other food is not denied them. 

 The last I saw was scratching, chewink-like, in the 

 dead leaves ; and there is animal life among these 

 even in the depths of winter. This overstaying cat- 

 bird did not seem out of place ; his fretful cry was 

 almost musical, and the confident hop, straight and 

 certain flight, and general well-to-do manner quite 

 clearly evidenced that the bird was suffering no in- 

 convenience. The winter sunshine was good enough 

 for him, and well it might be, for he was never with- 

 out company. 



So much has been written about the Mocking-bird 

 that any detailed account is uncalled for. Essay 

 after essay have appeared in magazines ; columns of 

 newspapers have been given up to discussions con- 

 cerning it, and the bird is so common in cages, that 

 to merely name it calls up a vivid picture of this 

 " prince of song." 



In Central New Jersey this bird was a regular 

 summer visitor fifty years ago, as I find by many 

 references to him in unpublished records, and I have 

 been informed that about Philadelphia, in the begin- 



