ii4 THROUGH LIBRARY WINDOWS 



we were listening and so we gently applauded 

 and he ruffled his feathers appreciatingly. 



Just note that Cat-bird, how trim and neat 

 and dainty of figure and dress. How nimble 

 and graceful, as he hops from branch to branch. 

 What a splendidly built bird and what a pat- 

 tern of symmetry as an art study. He is beau- 

 ty itself, so exquisite his finish, so rhythmic his 

 motion. His peculiar pale blue color is without 

 an equal among the birds of our New England. 

 His black cap and touch of black in tail set 

 him off artistically. It is unfortunate for him 

 that he is named from his "call" rather than 

 from his beauty and song. His "cat-call" is 

 very disagreeable but his song from a musical 

 standpoint is excelled by few birds. The voice 

 is full and rich and the execution fauldess. 

 High trees are unsocial and he is rarely in 

 them; he is a social bird and very chatty, a 

 Bohemian, and he croons in the lilacs and 

 syringas and alders, in fact, in any shrub that 

 suits his convenience only so be that he is near 

 folks. He enjoys hearing himself talk and 

 thinks everybody else does, and being first 

 cousin to the southern mocking-bird may ac- 

 count for his replicating vocal power. His 

 cousin is an artist but he a wag, a caricaturist 

 and certainly very clever, when he can imitate 



