NATURES GROTESQUE, 



(the yellow-breasted chat.) 



HIS bird comedian is an actor, 

 a mimic, and a ventrilo- 

 quist; he has been called "a 

 rollicking polygot," " an ec- 

 centric acrobat," "a happy-go-lucky 

 clown, turning aerial somersaults," "a 

 Punchinello among birds," and from 

 my own experience I can add that he 

 is a practical joker and " an artful 

 dodger." His voice is absolutely 

 unique in its range. Besides his 

 power as a ventriloquist, to throw it in 

 any direction, and so entice away from 

 his nest any intruder upon his domain, 

 he possesses the most unequaled capac- 

 ity for making queer noises. On a 

 certain summer day I was driving to 

 Monticello, the Virginia home of Pres- 

 ident Jefferson, along a beautiful road, 

 bordered by tall trees and a thick, 

 leafy undergrowth where a thousand 

 nests might be safely hidden. All 

 along a road the Chats called chit^ chit^ 

 or barked, whined, clucked, whistled, 

 sang, chuckled and called overhead, 

 or out of the bushes beside us, always 

 invisible, or just giving a flutter to the 

 leaves to show their presence. One of 

 the party declared one called Kitty ^ 

 Kitty! distinctly, and he also mim- 

 micked a puppy most successfully. 

 Later on, in July, I was stopping near 

 a favorite haunt of the Chats; a country 

 place on the edge of the woods, where 

 thickly growing shrubs and bushes 

 filled the deep hollows between the 

 hills and near the streams. Here they 

 had their broods, and not only all day, 

 but late in the evening by moonlight 

 they could be heard, making the whole 

 place ring with their medley of sounds, 

 while not a feather of them could be 

 seen. 



Yet I finally succeeded in catching 

 various glimpses of them, and in 

 equally characteristic, though different 



moods. First, I saw them darting rap- 

 idly to and fro on foraging journeys, 

 their bills filled with food, for they are 

 most admirable husbands and fathers, 

 and faithful to the nests that they hide 

 with such care. They are beautiful 

 birds, rich olive-green above and a 

 bright yellow below, with two or three 

 pure white lines or stripes about the 

 eye and throat and a " beauty spot " 

 of black near the beak. I watched 

 one balancing on a slender twig near 

 the water in the bright sunshine and 

 his colors, green and gold, fairly glit- 

 tered. His nest is usually near the 

 ground in the crotch of a low branch 

 and is a rather large one, woven of 

 bark in strips, coarse grass and leaves, 

 and lined with finer grass for the three 

 or four white eggs, adorned with small 

 reddish-brown spots. One pair had 

 their home near a blackberry thicket, 

 and they might be seen gobbling ber- 

 ries and peeping at you with bright 

 black eyes all the while. 



The Chat excels in extraordinary 

 and absurd pose ; wings fluttering, tail 

 down, legs dangling like a Stork, he 

 executes all kinds of tumbles in the 

 air. It is said that a Chat courtship 

 is a sight never to be forgotten by the 

 lucky spectator. Such somersaults, 

 such songs, such queer jerks and starts. 

 Our bird is one of the Wood Warbler 

 family, a quiet and little known group 

 of birds. His elusiveness and skill 

 in hiding, and his swift movements, 

 are his only traits in common with 

 them. Ella F. Mosby. 



In those vernal seasons of the year, 

 when the air is calm and pleasant, it 

 were an injury and suUenness against 

 Nature not to go out and see her riches 

 and partake in her rejoicing with 

 heaven and earth. — Milton. 



Ill 



