CATBIRD. 53 
Vireos, Titmice, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Chewinks and showy Scarlet Tanagers! Or 
what can be more charming than the song of our Thrasher! Have you ever listened to 
the tinkling melodies of a number of Bobolinks flying over the grassy meadows adorned 
with bright-colored wild lilies? Have you ever enjoyed a fine June evening in the woods, 
when the air was filled with the fragrance of flowering shrubs, when the sounds of the 
Whippoorwill fall wpon your ear? Who will not admit that Nature is full to overflow- 
ing with the most delightful poetry? 
Of all the feathered visitors who return to us in spring and make their home 
among our ornamental shrubbery, the CaTBirp is my especial favorite. It is an old 
acquaintance made in early childhood, and its reappearance with each coming spring 
calls up countless memories of happy days. And the Catbird deserves to be everybody’s 
favorite. True, its plumage is plain, but, says Olive Thorne Miller, ‘“‘no bird is more 
graceful than the Catbird, and in spite of his sober dress of slate-color and black, none 
is more beautiful. His plumage may be grave in hue, but it is like satin in sheen and 
texture, and always in the most perfect order, for he takes the daintiest care for him- 
self.”* Our bird is readily distinguished by its fine slate-color, black crown, wings and 
tail, and by its chestnut-colored vent. It is, too, one of our most exquisite songsters, 
far too little prized. It can be truly called the Mockingbird of the Northern States. In 
many localities it is one of the most abundant and best known birds, and it is so con- 
fiding and social that it always prefers to take up its abode in gardens close to human 
dwellings. It is also an exceedingly useful bird, for it destroys countless noxious inse¢ts, 
and the same may be said of it in this respect that I have already said of the Robin. 
These preliminary remarks are sufficient to show that our Cathird is one of our most 
prominent and valuable birds. 
The geographical distribution of the Catbird is confined to the Eastern States and 
the British Provinces, west to, and including, the Rocky Mountains. Occasionally it is 
met on the Pacific coast and as far south as south-eastern Texas during the breeding 
time. It- winters in the Gulf States, Mexico, Central America to Panama, and Cuba. 
In the Eastern, Middle and Northern States it is especially common though rare in the 
far West. In Colorado, however, where it is found in the mountains as high up as 7,500 
feet, it seems to be quite common. To judge from my own observations in the neigh- 
borhood of the Gulf of Mexico, it is rare throughout the Southern States. In Texas it 
is common only during migration, but very rare during the breeding season and in 
winter. It is one of the best known and most abundant birds in Wisconsin, Illinois, 
Missouri, and the mountain regions of Arkansas. North it is found to Lake Winnipeg. 
The Catbird reaches Texas from its winter quarters in the beginning of April, 
south-western Missouri at the end of that month, northern Illinois about the 10th of 
May, Wisconsin rarely before the 15th of the same month. Of course its arrival depends 
on the weather. According to Mr. Otto Widmann’s statements it appears at St. Louis, 
Mo., rather regularly on the 24th of April or a few days earlier or later according to 
the weather. When the cherry trees blossom I know that it is time for the Cathird to 
arrive. 
Our bird is a sojourner of dense thickets and shrubberies. It may be found along 
* Bird Ways. By Olive Thorne Miller. 
