Dusky, Gray, and Slate-colored 
Our familiar catbird, of all the feathered tribe, presents the 
most contrary characteristics, and is therefore held in varied esti- 
mation—loved, admired, ridiculed, abused. He is the veriest 
‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” of birds. Exquisitely proportioned, 
with finely poised black head and satin-gray coat, which he 
bathes most carefully and prunes and prinks by the hour, he ap- 
pears from his toilet a Beau Brummell, an aristocratic-looking, 
even dandified neighbor. Suddenly, as if shot, he drops head 
and tail and assumes the most hang-dog air, without the least 
sign of self-respect; then crouches and lengthens into a roll, head 
forward and tail straightened, till he looks like a little, short gray 
snake, lank and limp. Anon, with a jerk and a sprint, every 
muscle tense, tail erect, eyes snapping, he darts into the air intent 
upon some well-planned mischief. It is impossible to describe 
his various attitudes or moods. In song and call he presents the 
same opposite characteristics. How such a bird, exquisite in 
style, can demean himself to utter such harsh, altogether hateful 
catcalls and squawks as have given the bird his common name, 
is a wonder when in the next moment his throat swells and be- 
ginning phut-phut-coquillicot, he gives forth a long glorious song, 
only second to that of the wood thrush in melody. He is a jes- 
ter, a caricaturist, a mocking-bird. 
The catbird’s nest is like a veritable scrap-basket, loosely 
woven of coarse twigs, bits of newspaper, scraps, and rags, till 
this rough exterior is softly lined and made fit to receive the four 
to six pretty dark green-blue eggs to be laid therein. 
As a fruit thief harsh epithets are showered upon the friendly, 
confiding little creature at our doors; but surely his depredations 
may be pardoned, for he is industrious at all times and unusually 
adroit in catching insects, especially in the moth stage. 
The Mocking-bird 
(Mimus polyglottus) Mocking-bird family 
Length—g to 10 inches. About the size of the robin. 
Male and Female—Gray above; wings and wedge-shaped tail 
brownish; upper wing feathers tipped with white; outer 
tail quills white, conspicuous in flight; chin white; under- 
neath light gray, shading to whitish. 
Range—Peculiar to torrid and temperate zones of two Americas. 
Migrations—No fixed migrations; usually resident where seen. 
81 
