90 The Cat Bird. 



first seen in Pennsylvania, and at lengtii leisurely approach 

 this part of New England, by the close of the first or be- 

 ginning of the second week in May. They continue their 

 migration also to Canada ; but whether they proceed into 

 the desolate arctic wilderness or not, we are ignorant. They 

 are said, however, to inhabit Kamtschatka, and consequently 

 penetrate very far to the north. Throughout this extent, and to 

 the territory of the Mississippi, they likewise pass the period 

 of incubation and rearing their young. They remain in New 

 England till about the middle of October, at which time the 

 young feed principally upon wild berries. 



The cat bird often tunes his cheerful song before the break 

 of day, hopping from bush to bush, with great agility, after 

 his insect prey, while yet scarcely distinguishable amidst the 

 dusky shadows of the dawn. The notes of different individ- 

 uals vary considerably, so that sometimes his song, in sweet- 

 ness and compass, is scarcely at all inferior to that of the 

 Ferruginous thrush. A quaintness, however, prevails in all 

 his efforts, and his song is frequently made up of short and 

 blended imitations of other birds, given, however, with great 

 emphasis, melody, and variety of tone; and, like the nightin- 

 gale, invading the hours of repose, in the late twilight of a 

 summer's evening, when scarce another note is heard but the 

 hum of the drowsy beetle, his music attains its full effect, and 

 often rises and falls with all the swell and studied cadence of 

 finished harmony. During the heat of the day, or late in the 

 morning, the variety of his song declines, or he pursues his 

 employment in silence and retirement. 



About the twenty-fifth of May,'one of these familiar birds 

 came into the Botanic Garden, and took up his summer abode 

 with us. Soon after his arrival he called up in low whisper- 

 ings the notes of the whip-poor-will, the red bird, the pet o peto 

 of the tufted titmouse, and other imitations of southern birds, 

 which he had collected on his leisurely route from the south. 

 He also soon mocked the Hshe-yah ^tshc-yah o{ the little Aca- 

 dian flycatchers, with which the neighborhood now abounded. 

 He frequently answered to my whistle in the garden, was very 

 silent during the period of incubation, and expressed great 

 anxiety and complaint on my approaching the young after 

 their leaving the nest. According to Latham, the cat bird 

 is also capable of imitating the variable airs of instrumental 

 music, and will sometimes mimic the cry of chickens so as 

 to deceive and distress the hen that attends them. 



One of the most remarkable propensities of the cat bird, 

 and to which it owes its name, is the unpleasant, loud and 



