LAND BIRDS. 659 
Geol. Surv., 1908, 380). It lingers rather late in the fall, passing southward 
in September and October, occasionally lingering in the southern counties 
until about November first. 
It is partial to swampy thickets and brushy woods and coppices in 
low ground everywhere, but is also a constant frequenter of gardens, parks 
and orchards, and in fact seems to have a predilection for the vicinity of 
man. 
The nest is a conspicuous structure of twigs, grapevine-bark, rootlets, 
grasses, leaves and similar materials, lined almost always with black 
rootlets, and placed usually in thick bushes, shrubs or vines, often close 
to the house, but also very commonly in the depths of swamps or the 
edges of deep woods. Frequently in parks and cemeteries the birds select 
thick evergreens, especially arbor vite and Norway spruce, but by far 
the larger number of nests are placed in lilacs, syringas, honeysuckles, 
rosebushes, grapevines and other convenient places in the shrubbery 
about gardens and lawns. 
The Catbird is a remarkable singer and is regarded by many as second 
only to its near relative the Mockingbird. The song possesses great sweet- 
ness and variety, but lacks the force of its famous relative. Often the 
Catbird will sing steadily for half an hour or more from the same perch, 
or at least from the same bush, with almost no intermission, but at other 
times it introduces the most incongruous notes, especially the mewing 
notes which have given it the name of Catbird and those harsher notes 
which Bicknell describes as a ‘short, sharp crackling sound, like the 
snapping of small faggots.” It sings early and late, and with added zest 
during rainy weather. It has also been known to sing at night, though 
not regularly. 
The eggs are three to five, of a deep bluish-green color, without spots, 
and average .93 by .69 inches. The first nest in middle Michigan is built 
toward the last of May, and fresh eggs are most commonly found during 
the first week in June, but a second brood is almost invariably reared, 
and eggs may be found late in June or during the first half of July. 
The food of the Catbird has caused a vast amount of discussion, the 
opinions expressed being almost as numerous and diverse as those in 
regard to the Robin. It eats immense numbers of insects, but also consumes 
large quantities of fruit, but not all the insects eaten are injurious, nor 
are all the fruits valuable. The bird seems partial to wild fruits, devouring 
blackberries, raspberries, elderberries, sassafras berries, and those of the 
spice-bush, as well as various species of cornel, viburnum and other shrubs, 
together with the berries of the Virginia creeper and grape, as well as 
occasionally all other cultivated fruits. 
Long ago (1879) Professor S. A. Forbes reported on the stomachs of 
twenty-eight Cathbirds which he examined carefully, showing that those 
collected in May had eaten nothing but insects, those in June but 64 percent 
of insects, while in July small fruits formed 63 percent of the food and 
injurious insects only about 15 percent. In summing up his results he 
said: ‘If all Catbirds ate like this at all seasons of the year we should 
certainly class them with curculios and potato beetles as most grievous 
pests. As far as the ten birds taken in July indicate anything they seem 
to me to indicate that the Catbird is, to say the best of him, a blessing 
pretty thoroughly disguised.” In 1881 and 1882, twenty-five Catbirds 
were examined by Forbes, which had been taken in various parts of J]linois. 
Cankerworms had been eaten by only eight birds and formed but 15 percent 
