NOVEMBER. 277 



can best be interpreted by supposing they are permanently 

 mated, and knew where they were going in advance of 

 their migratorial journey. It may be what a willing critic 

 calls a " surprising hypothesis," but I believe it, neverthe- 

 less. Three decades of familiarity with the birds of a 

 country dooryard may not be sufficient to determine such 

 a matter, but it makes one very positive about it, never- 

 theless, and captious contradiction goes for nothing. 



The same promptness to visit, examine, and linger 

 about last summer's nesting tree is characteristic of the 

 Baltimore oriole ; and to say, as has been said, that the 

 sexes never arrive at the same time is rot, pure and sim- 

 ple. Even if it were true, it would not conflict with the 

 " hypothesis " of being mated for longer than a season. 



Let us turn now to the consideration of cat-birds. 

 Having thought for several summers that possibly it was 

 the same pair that nestled in a clump of blackberry canes 

 near by, I carefully watched them, a year ago, to deter- 

 mine their feeding-grounds, if so be it they had any par- 

 ticular range during the arduous weeks when they had 

 young to feed. I could only determine that the garden 

 was more frequently visited than the hill-side or meadows, 

 and so placed food in easy reach and plain sight. This 

 was soon discovered and continually visited. Gradually I 

 removed the board upon which were placed the fruit and 

 insects farther and farther from the nest, and finally 

 placed it beneath a large gooseberry bush at the other end 

 of the garden. After the young were grown they and 

 the old birds continued to rely upon it for their food sup- 

 ply, which I kept up pretty regularly until the end of 

 August. 



The following April cat-birds reappeared, and the first 

 that I saw were industriously hunting in and about the 

 gooseberry bush, a spot not at all likely to be visited by 

 these birds under ordinary circumstances. In May I re- 



