482 Birds of Colorado 
about 8,000 feet, but not so commonly. It reaches Colorado from 
the south about the second week in May. The following are migration 
records: Baca co., May 12th (Warren), Fort Lyon, May 8th—14th 
(Cooke), Salida, May 14th (Frey), El Paso co., May 10th (Allen & 
Brewster), Denver, May 12th (Henshaw), Loveland, May 11th (Cooke). 
Breeding records are: Boulder co. (Gale), Barr Lake (Hersey & 
Rockwell), Middle Park (Carter apud Cooke), Fort Garland, 7,900 feet 
(Henshaw), Fort Lewis (Morrison & Gilman). 
Habits. —The Cat-bird is apparently somewhat more 
shy and silent in the west than it is in the east ; it haunts 
thick shrubberies, and is not often seen, nor is its cat-like 
mew so often heard. It feeds chiefly on insects, and 
though fond of fruit, the damage it does in this respect 
is largely outweighed by its insecticidal propensities. 
The nest is generally placed in willows or other low 
bushes along the borders of a creek ; it is built of coarse 
stems, decayed leaves and strips of inner bark and grasses, 
with a lining of fine roots, and the whole made up in a 
wet state, according to Gale’s notes. The eggs, usually 
four in number, are blueish-green, and measure about 
94 x ‘67. Dille gives June 12th as an average date 
for fresh eggs; Gale, in Boulder co., found nests with 
unincubated eggs through the whole of June and up 
to July 3rd. 
Genus TOXOSTOMA. 
Bill either longer than the head and curved throughout or shorter 
than the head and straight, but the culmen at least equal to or longer 
than the middle toe without claw ; wings quite short and rounded, 
markedly shorter than the tail, which is distinctly graduated ; feet 
stout, tarsus strongly graduated. 
A very considerable American genus, with about eight species in 
the United States, chiefly in the drier south-western districts. 
Key oF THE SPECIES. 
A. Above rich rufous ; below heavily spotted with dusky. 
T. rufum, p. 483. 
B. Above greyish-brown; below very faintly marked with dusky. 
T. bendirei, p. 484. 
