196 SINGING BIRDS. 



During the heat of the day, or late in the morning, the variety 

 of his song declines, or he pursues his employment in silence 

 and retirement. 



About the 25 th of May one of these familiar birds came into 

 the Botanic Garden and took up his summer abode with us. 

 Soon after his arrival he called up in low whisperings the notes 

 of the Whip-poor-will, the Redbird, the peto peto of the Tufted 

 Titmouse, and other imitations of Southern birds which he had 

 collected on his leisurely route from the South. He also soon 

 mocked the 'tshe-ydh ' tshe-yah of the little Acadian Flycatch- 

 ers, with which the neighborhood now abounded. He fre- 

 quently answered to my whistle in the garden, was very silent 

 during the period of incubation, and expressed great anxiety 

 and complaint on my approaching the young after their leaving 

 the nest. 



One of the most remarkable propensities of the Catbird, and 

 to which it owes its name, is the unpleasant, loud, and grating 

 cat-like mew {^pay, 'pay, 'pay) which it often utters on being 

 approached or offended. As the irritation increases, this note 

 becomes more hoarse, reiterated, and vehement ; and some- 

 times this petulance and anger are carried so far as to per- 

 secute every intruder who approaches the premises. This 

 temper often prevails after the young are fledged ; and though 

 originating no doubt in parental anxiety, it sometimes appears 

 to outlive that season, and occasionally becomes such an an- 

 noyance that a revengeful and fatal blow from a stick or stone 

 is but too often, with the thoughtless and prejudiced, the re- 

 ward of this harmless and capricious provocation. At such 

 times, with little apparent cause, the agitation of the bird is 

 excessive ; she hurries backward and forward with hanging 

 wings and open mouth, mewing and screaming in a paroxysm 

 of scolding anger, and alighting almost to peck the very hand 

 that offers the insult. To touch a twig or branch in any part 

 of the garden or wood is often amply sufficient to call down 

 the amusing termagant. This harmless excess, and simulation 

 of grimalkin's tone, — that wizard animal so much disliked by 

 many, — are unfortunate associations in the cry of the Catbird ; 



