64 HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS. 
* 
the bird may be in quite another part of the woods; 
then again, when the bird is within a few feet of you, 
the song will appear to come from a distant locality. 
Even the familiar robin (Mferula migratoria) often 
makes use of this power with good effect. When he 
sings at mating time, or to attract attention, or from his 
innate love of song, he will carol away with such an 
abandon and fullness of tone that he appears to be much 
nearer than he really is; but when he sings exclusively 
for his mate, or for the newly fledged young, whose 
presence he wishes to conceal from others, the song is 
low and tender, often half smothered, or made to appear 
in another place. 
The cat birds, which are among the most interesting 
as well as the most intelligent of the feathered tribe, 
have in individual instances, probably, arrived at a 
greater degree of proficiency in this art than any others 
of the family. They not only imitate well many notes 
and calls of other birds, but by modulating their tones 
they are capable of producing great deception in regard 
to their whereabouts. One day while watching some 
robins and gold finches bathing together in a little creek, 
I heard a cat bird warbling very sweetly, but apparently 
at a great distance away. As a treeless meadow lay in 
the direction from which the song proceeded, I wondered 
where the bird could be hidden, and sweeping a field 
glass over the stretch of meadow, I failed to locate him. 
To my surprise, I finally discovered the singer ina little 
thorn bush not ten feet from the place where I was 
standing, though the sound indicated the distance to be 
