BIRDS OF NEW YORK 473 



Dumetella carolinensis (Linnaeus) 

 Catbird 



Plate 10 1 



Muscicapa carolinensis Linnaeus. Syst. Nat. Ed. 12. 1766. 1:328 

 Orpheus carolinensis DeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 69, fig. 85 

 Dumetella carolinensis A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 3. 1010. p. 331. 



No. 704 



dumetella, diminutive of Lat., dumetum, thornbushes or thicket, referring to the 

 bird's chosen habitat 



Description. Tail long and rounded; color slaty gray, lighter below; 

 crown and tail black; under tail coverts chestnut; exposed portion of the 

 wings like the back. This is our only dark slaty bird, slightly smaller 

 than the Robin, with nearly uniform coloration, with restless habits, almost 

 continually pumping its tail like the rest of the thrashers. 



Length 8.5-9 inches; extent 11-12; wing 3.5-3.7; tail 3.6-4; bill .65. 



Distribution. The Catbird inhabits eastern North America, breeding 

 from British Columbia, central Alberta, Saskatchewan, southern Manitoba, 

 central Ontario, southern Quebec and Nova Scotia, to northeastern New 

 Mexico, eastern Texas and northern Florida. Winters from the Southern 

 States to Cuba and Panama. In New York it is uniformly distributed 

 throughout the Carolinian and Alleghanian zones, but does not enter the 

 spruce and balsam forests of the Catskills and Adirondacks, although it 

 penetrates those districts along the clearings and river valleys up to an 

 elevation of 2000 feet. Throughout the settled portions of the State it 

 is one of the dominant species, almost equaling the Chipping sparrow and 

 Red-eyed vireo in abundance. It arrives from the south from the 20th to 

 the 30th of April in the warmer portions of the State, from the 5th to the 

 10th of May farther north; and departs in the fall from the 5th to the 25th 

 of October. In the coastal district a few individuals remain throughout 

 the winter, but in western New York this is a very rare occurrence, and 

 those which do not migrate are usually destroyed by the coldest weather 

 of January and early February. 



Haunts and habits. This is one of the best known of our common 



