152 WAKE-ROBIN 



amused and sometimes annoyed by the yellow- 

 breasted chat. This bird also has something of the 

 manners and build of the catbird, yet he is truly an 

 original. The catbird is mild and feminine com- 

 pared with this rollicking polyglot. His voice is 

 very loud and strong and quite uncanny. No sooner 

 have you penetrated his retreat, which is usually a 

 thick undergrowth in low, wet localities, near the 

 woods or in old fields, than he begins his serenade, 

 which for the variety, grotesqueness, and uncouth- 

 ness of the notes is not unlike a country skimmer- 

 ton. If one passes directly along, the bird may 

 scarcely break the silence. But pause a while, or 

 loiter quietly about, and your presence stimulates 

 him to do his best. He peeps quizzically at you 

 from beneath the branches, and gives a sharp feline 

 mew. In a moment more he says very distinctly, 

 who, who. Then in rapid succession follow notes 

 the most discordant that ever broke the sylvan si- 

 lence. Now he barks like a puppy, then quacks 

 like a duck, then rattles like a kingfisher, then 

 squalls like a fox, then caws like a crow, then mews 

 like a cat. Now he calls as if to be heard a long 

 way off, then changes his key, as if addressing the 

 spectator. Though very shy, and carefully keeping 

 himself screened when you show any disposition to 

 get a better view, he will presently, if you remain 

 quiet, ascend a twig, or hop out on a branch in 

 plain sight, lop his tail, droop his wings, cock his 

 head, and become very melodramatic. In less than 

 half a minute he darts into the bushes again, and 



