110 



Crcas'urg of Natural $?t 



perceive considerable variety in his perform- 

 ance, in which he seems to introduce all the 

 odd sounds and quaint passages he Las been 



able to collect. Upon the whole, though we 

 cannot arrange him with the grand leaders 

 of our vernal choristers, he well merits a 

 place among the most agreeable general per- 

 formers. In summer, scarcely a thicket in 

 the country is without its Cat-birds ; and, 

 were they to fly in flocks, like many other 

 birds, they would darken the air with their 

 numbers. In their migrations they keep 

 pace with the progress of agriculture ; and 

 the first settlers in many parts of the Gen- 

 nesee country have told me, that it was i 

 several years after they removed there, be- I 

 fore the Cat-bird made its appearance among 

 them. With all these amiable qualities to 

 recommend him, few people in the country 

 respect the Cat-bird ; on the contrary, it is 

 generally the object of dislike ; and the boys 

 of the United States entertain the same pre- 

 judice and contempt for this bird, its nest 

 and young, as those of Britain do for the 

 Yellow-hammer, and its nest, eggs, and 

 young. I am at a loss to account for this 

 cruel prejudice. Even those by whom it is 

 entertained can scarcely tell you why ; only 

 they ' hate Cat-birds ; ' as some persons 

 tell you they hate Frenchmen, they hate 

 Dutchmen, &c. ; expressions that bespeak 

 their own narrowness of understanding and 

 want of liberality. Yet, after ruminating 

 over in my own mind all the probable 

 causes, I think I have at last hit on some of 

 them ; the principal of which seems to me 

 to be a certain similarity of taste, and clash- > 

 ing of interest, between the Cat-bird and the 

 farmer. The Cat-bird is fond of large ripe i 

 garden strawberries ; so is the farmer, for 

 the good price they bring at market : the , 

 Cat-bird loves the best and richest early cher- ' 

 ries ; so does the farmer, for they are some- 

 times the most profitable of his early fruit, 

 &c. Perhaps, too, the common note of the 

 Cat-bird, so like the mewing of the animal 

 whose name it bears, and who itself sustains | 

 no small share of prejudice, the homeliness 

 of his plumage, and even his familiarity, so 

 proverbially known to beget contempt, may 

 also contribute to this mean, illiberal, and 

 persecuting prejudice ; but, with the gene- 

 rous and the good, the lovers of nature and 

 of rural charms, the confidence which 'this 

 familiar bird places in man by building in 

 his garden, under his eye, the music of his 

 song, and the interesting playfulness of his 

 manners, will always be more than a recom- 



pence for all the little stolen morsels he 

 i snatches. 



! " The Cat-bird measures nine inches in 

 length ; at a small distance he appears 

 nearly black ; but, on a closer examination, i 

 is of deep slate colour above lightest on the | 

 edges of the primaries, and of a considerably i 

 lighter slate colour below, except the under | 

 tail-coverts, which are very dark red ; the i 

 tail, which is rounded, and upper part of the ; 

 head, as well as the legs and bill, are black. ! 

 The female differs little in colour from the 

 male." The habits, manners, and general 

 appearance of the Cat-bird diifer so little 

 from the Thrushes, that the naturalist to 

 whom we are indebted for the foregoing par- 

 ticulars does not hesitate to place him in the 

 genus Turdus. He is a great and determined 

 enemy to the common black snake, or 

 horse-runner (Coluber constrictor), which 

 rifles its nest whenever an opportunity offers. 

 As the Cat-bird uniformly attacks or pursues 

 this snake, and is frequently seen in the act 

 of hopping eagerly after it, numerous ridi- 

 lous stories are related of its being fascinated 

 by the snake ; it is, however, well known to 

 naturalists that the bird is almost uniformly 

 the aggressor and victor, driving the reptile 

 to its hiding-place. 



CATERPILLAR. The name given to the 

 larvae of lepidopterous insects ; of which we 

 have spoken at some length in the article 

 BUTTERFLY, and to which the following, 

 from " Brande's Dictionary of Science " (art. 

 Lepidoptera), may be added. " They have 

 six squamous or hooked feet, which cor- 

 respond to the legs of the perfect insect, and 

 from four to ten additional membranous 

 ones, or propedes ; the two last of which are 

 situated at the posterior extremity of the 

 body. Those Caterpillars which have but 

 ten or twelve in all, have been called, from 

 their mode of progression, Geometrce. Several 

 of these geometers, when at rest, remain 

 fixed to the branches of plants by the hind 

 feet alone, whence in the form, colour, and 

 directions of their body, they resemble a 

 twig. The body of these larvse is generally 

 elongated, almost cylindrical, soft, variously 

 coloured ; sometimes naked, and sometimes 

 covered with hairs, tubercles, and spines. It 

 is composed of twelve segments or annuli, 

 exclusive of the head, with nine stigmata on 

 each side. Their head is invested with a 

 corneous or squamous dermis, and presents 

 on each side six shining granules, which 

 appear to be ocelli : and it is furnished with 

 two very short and conical antennae, and a 

 mouth composed of strong mandibles ; two 

 maxillae, a labrum, and four small palpi. 

 Most Caterpillars feed on the leaves of plants; 

 some gnaw their flowers, roots, buds, and 

 seeds ; others attack the ligneous or hardest 

 parts of trees, softening it by means of a fluid 

 which they disgorge. Certain species attack 

 our woollens and furs, thereby doing us 

 much injury ; even our leather, bacon, wax, 

 and lard are not spared by them. Several 

 confine themselves exclusively to a single 

 article of diet ; others are less delicate, and 

 devour all sorts of organized matters. Some 

 of them form societies, and frequently live 



