288 IN A LOG CAMP 



spoken as separate sentences, though he will 

 often repeat one after his mistress. 



The catbird is a most interesting and ac- 

 complished bird in other respects. He whis- 

 tles the first line of " Coming through the 

 rye " very completely, and like all birds, he 

 has various other utterances, a complaining 

 " qu ! qu ! " when he wants his cage moved 

 into another room, a charming whispered 

 chatter in a plaintive tone when his beloved 

 mistress comes close to him and talks to him, 

 which he will keep up as long as she will 

 stay. 



In the spring, the season of love-making 

 in the bird-world, he is most sentimental and 

 coaxing in his " talk " and chatter to his two 

 lovers, coming on their shoulders and busy- 

 ing himself with scraps from the waste-basket, 

 as if to hint that nest-making is in order. 

 This bird is so busy and so evidently happy 

 that one is not moved to painful sympathy as 

 in the case of most captives. He has many 

 playthings which he enjoys greatly. Among 

 them a tiny bell to ring and a small china 

 doll, which seems to give him as much plea- 

 sure as it does our own little folk. He is out 



