BIRDS OF NEW YORK 



475 



green color, and average .95 by .70 inches in size. They are laid from 

 the 1 5th to the 3Oth of May, and second sets are often observed as late 

 as the first week in August, evidently two broods often being reared in 

 a season in our latitude. 



This bird is undoubtedly a beneficial species. The greater part of its 

 food during the spring and summer consists of injurious insects. It kills 



Catbird's nest and eggs 



Photo by Ralph S. Paddock 



quite a number of ground beetles and other predaceous insects, however, 

 and as soon as cultivated cherries and berries are ripe it takes a considerable 

 toll of these fruits. Furthermore, he occasionally destroys the eggs of 

 other birds, a habit which, in justice, we must say is not characteristic of 

 this species. I suspect that, like the House wren, he dislikes near neighbors 

 because his food range about the nest is rather circumscribed, and finds 



