MY GARDEN ACQUAINTANCE. 11 



over, and, as it were, rehearsing their song in an under- 

 tone, which makes their nearness always unobtrusive. 

 Though there is the most trustworthy witness to the 

 imitative propensity of this bird, I have only once, 

 during an intimacy of more than forty years, heard him 

 indulge it. In that case, the imitation was by no means 

 so close as to deceive, but a free reproduction of the 

 notes of some other birds, especially of the oriole, as a 

 kind of variation in his own song. The catbird is as 

 shy as the robin is vulgarly familiar. Only when his 

 nest or his fledglings are approached does he become 

 noisy and almost aggressive. I have known him to 

 station his young in a thick cornel-bush on the edge of 

 the raspberry-bed, after the fruit began to ripen, and 

 feed them there for a week or more. In such cases he 

 shows none of that conscious guilt which makes the 

 robin contemptible. On the contrary, he will maintain 

 his post in the thicket, and sharply scold the intruder 

 who ventures to steal his berries. After all, his claim is 

 only for tithes, while the robin will bag your entire crop 

 if he get a chance. 



Dr. Watts's statement that " birds in their little nests 

 agree," like too many others intended to form the infant 

 mind, is very far from being true. On the contrary, the 

 most peaceful relation of the different species to each 

 other is that of armed neutrality. They are very jealous 

 of neighbors. A few years ago, I was much interested 

 in the housebuilding of a pair of summer yellow-birds. 

 They had chosen a very pretty site near the top of a tall 

 white lilac, within easy eye-shot of a chamber window. 

 A very pleasant thing it was to see their little home 

 growing with mutual help, to watch their industrious 

 skill interrupted only by little flirts and snatches of 

 endearment, frugally cut short by the common-sense 

 of the tiny housewife. They had brought their work 



