t 
CAT BIRD. 157 
i 
* 
CAT BIRD.*—TURDUS LIVIDUS. — Fie. 60. 
4 
iw cicapa Carolitensis, Linn. Syst. 328. — Le Gobe-mouche brun de Virginie, 
Ariss. ii. 365.—Cat Bird, Catesb. i. 66.— Lutham, ii. 353.— Le Moucherolle 
du Virginie, Buff. iv. 562. — Lucar lividus, apice nigra, The Cat Bird, or Chicken 
sajBird, artram, p. 290. —Peale’s Museum, No. 7 
2 
* ORPHJEUS FELIV OX. —Swainson. 
Turdus felivox, Bonap. Synop. p. 75. 
‘We have here before us a very common and very numerous 
sp: cies, in this part of the United States ; and one as well known to 
al! classes of people, as his favorite briers, or blackberry bushes. In 
spring or summer, on approaching thickets of brambles, the first 
salutation you receive is from the Cat Bird; and a stranger, unac- 
painted with its note, would instantly conclude that some vagrant, 
erphan kitten had got bewildered among the briers, and wanted 
‘assistance ; so exactly does the call of the bird resemble the voice of 
chat animal. Unsuspicious, and extremely familiar, he seems less 
apprehensive of man than almost any other of our summer visitants ; 
for whether in the woods, or in the garden, where he frequently builds 
Ics nest, he seldom allows you to pass without approaching to pay his 
respects, in his usual way. This humble familiarity and deference, 
fiom a stranger, too, who comes to rear his young, and spend the 
s camer with us, ought to entitle him to a full share of our hospitality. 
Sony I am, however, to say, that this, in too many instances, is 
cruelly the reverse. Of this I will speak more particularly in the 
se uel. 
About the 28th of February, the Cat Bird first arrives in the lower 
parts of Georgia from the south, consequently winters not far distant, 
probably in Florida. On the second week in April, he usually reaches 
this part of Pennsylvania, and, about the beginning of May, has 
already succeeded in building his nest. The place chosen for this 
1 .rpose is generally a thicket of bricrs or brambles, a thorn bush, 
t. ck vine, or the fork of a small sapling ; no great solicitude is shown 
fu: concealment, though few birds appear more interested for the 
sa ‘ety of their nest and young. The materials are dry leaves and 
weds, small twigs, and fine, dry grass; the inside is lined with the 
fine, black, fibrous routs of some plant. The female lays four, some- 
‘tunes five eggs, of a uniform greenish blue color, without any spots. 
.They generally raise two, and sometimes three broods in a season. 
In passing through the woods in summer, I have sometimes amused 
_ * At first sight, this species, singular both in habits and structure, appears to 
range with Brachypus ; but a more minute inspection shows that it will ratliok stand 
as an aberrant form with Orpheus. The structure of the bill, feet, and tail, are all 
of the latter; while the colors, and their distribution, agree with Brachypus, par- 
ticularly the rufous vent; that part is a nearly constant mark among the Brachipi, 
gbeing of a different and brighter color, and very generally red or yellow. The true 
‘rachépi do not seem to extend to North America; they are chiefly confined to 
Africa, and the warmer countries of India. 
t 
| 
| 
i eae 
