WILD PASTURES 



emplary bird as he masquerades in the 

 voices of others, but let him once be 

 frightened, or angered, or over-excited 

 about anything and the reprobate part 

 of him reasserts itself and he says " Mi- 

 a-aw ! " Hence his name, the catbird. 



The catbird, however, has the courage 

 of his convictions, and one of these con- 

 victions is that he has the right to the 

 satisfaction of an ungovernable and 

 enormous curiosity. Bait your bird trap 

 in the woods with something which 

 strikes a bird as a curiosity that courts 

 immediate investigation and you will 

 catch a catbird. Other birds might start 

 for it but the catbird would distance 

 them. So, after saying " Mi-a-aw ! " a 

 few times and drawing no response to 

 his challenge, he flew up to a twig 

 within a foot of my head, sat there a 

 moment, motionless except his beady 



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