pleasure in proving by the repeated ren- 

 dition, with an eye on his audience, of his 

 most finished and sciential selections. 



Mr. Cheney says the Catbird has not a 

 strong voice, nor, really, a tune of his 

 own. "With something the style of the 

 brown thrush, he is not his equal in song. 

 Generally considered a mocking-bird, he 

 does make use of the notes of different 

 birds, delivering them in snatchy, discon- 

 nected fashion, and his performance on 

 the whole, is very interesting, given as it 

 is, in a lively manner, with an occasional 

 tone truly sweet and musical. Much of 

 his singing, however, is mere twitter, 

 often little more than a succession of 

 squeaks, too antic to be put on paper." 

 Mr. Cheney's practiced ear detected in 

 the Catbird song the notes of the red- 

 eyed vireo, the brown thrasher, the blue- 

 bird, the robin and the yellow-breasted 

 chat. 



W. A. Stearns opined with enthusiasm 

 that "Next to the thrasher andjthe mock- 

 ing bird, 'prince of song,' the palm must 

 be awarded to this humble tenant of the 

 shrubbery for power of mimicry and 

 range of vocalization, as well as for 

 sweetness of execution in singing." 



In Alexander Wilson's judgment, 

 though we cannot class him with the 

 grand leaders of our vernal choristers, he 

 well merits a place among the most agree- 

 able general performers. He says : "The 

 Catbird is one of our earliest morning- 

 songsters, beginning generally before 

 break of day, and hovering from bush to 

 bush, with great sprightliness, when 

 there is scarce light enough to distinguish 

 him. His notes are more remarkable for 

 singularity than for melody. They con- 

 sist of short imitations of other birds, and 

 other sounds ; but his pipe being rather 

 deficient in clearness and strength of tone, 

 his imitations fail where these are requi- 

 site. Yet he is not easily discouraged, 

 but seems to study certain passages with 

 great perseverance, uttering them at first 

 low, and as he succeeds, higher and more 

 free; no ways embarrassed by the pres- 

 ence of a spectator even within a few 

 yards of him. On attentively listening 

 for some time to him one can perceive 

 considerable variety in his performance, 

 in which he seems to introduce all the 

 odd sounds and quaint passages he has 

 been able to collect." 



Nuttall, like all of Galeoscoptes carolin- 

 ensis' other friends, deplores the unfor- 

 tunate name, Catbird, with which he is 

 hampered, himself calls him a delightful 

 songster, "who seeks out the very society 

 of man, and reposes an unmerited con- 

 fidence in his protection, and is treated 

 with undeserved obloquy and contempt." 

 The notes of different individuals, he 

 says, vary considerably, so that some- 

 times his song in sweetness 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 

 nightingale, invading the hours of re- 

 pose. 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 de- 

 clines, or he pursues his employment in 

 silence and retirement." 



Doing his full duty as biographer, 

 Nuttall perforce refers, more in sorrow 

 than in anger, to the "unpleasant, loud 

 and grating cat-like mew, which it often 

 utters on being approached or offended. 

 As the irritation increases this note be- 

 comes more hoarse, reiterated, and vehe- 

 ment; and sometimes this petulance and 

 anger are carried so far as to persecute 

 every intruder who approaches the prem- 

 ises ; and though originating, no doubt, 

 in parental anxiety, it sometimes appears 

 to outlive that season, and occasionally 

 becomes such an annoyance that a re- 

 vengeful and fatal blow from a stick or 

 stone is but too often, with the thought- 

 less and prejudiced, the reward of this 

 harmless and capricious provocation." 



Mrs. Wright says that next to the 

 thrushes, no bird would be so much 

 missed from the garden as the — to her 

 mind misnamed — Catbird. She describes 

 the song as a brilliant recitative, varied 

 and inimitable, beginning, "Prut! Prut! 

 Coquillicot! Really, really, coquillicot! 

 Hey coquillicot! Hey! Victory!" And 

 the alarm cry, Zeay! zeay! like a metallic 

 mewing. "It is when it is in its garden 



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