CHAPTER VIII 



MINUTE OBSERVATIONS ON CATBIRDS 



WHILE the Catbird has a strong attachment for its young, 

 especially during later days of life at the nest, when 

 any intrusion will arouse its fighting instinct to the highest 

 pitch, it is under ordinary conditions exceedingly wary, sus- 

 picious, and hard to approach. In the account which follows I 

 shall describe only what was seen while camping beside two 

 nests of these birds. 



The first of these attractive nests rested on a spray of the 

 sweet viburnum, in a little clearing in dense bushes, and about 

 four feet from the ground, so that no change in its position was 

 necessary. It contained a single addled egg and two young with 

 the feather-shafts of the wings barely exposed. 



For an hour or more after the tent was in position, the old 

 birds kept up a perpetual din, in which their exasperating 

 tschaying note was most pronounced. They would circle round 

 and round the tent, often coming close as if to discover the way 

 in, or fluttering and screaming at it, as if it were a demon to be 

 exorcised. After this they gradually became more quiet, and 

 began to alight on the tent's guys and roof. At last the female 

 was seen stealthily to approach and quickly feed her young. 

 After a fresh reconnaissance both birds went to the nest to- 

 gether and with rapid, jerky movements stuffed red cherries 

 into the hungry throats, inspected and cleaned each young bird, 

 and then darted away. 



While in a state of mind wavering between fear and assur- 

 ance, the Catbird passes rapidly to a branch, and spreading and 

 pumping the tail, pauses in an attitude of attention before 

 making another movement. 



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