126 OUR SOUTHERN BIRDS 



You who would with wanton art 

 Counterfeit another's part, 

 And with noisy utterance claim 

 Right to an ignoble name, — 

 Inharmonious ! — why must you, 

 To a better self untrue, 

 Gifted with the charm of song, 

 Do the generous gift such wrong? 



Mark Twain called him the Northern Mock- 

 ing Bird. It is not strange that in regions 

 where both are at home in summer, the two birds 

 should be often confused, as they are rather 

 similar in appearance, habit, and song. The 

 Catbird's voice is less round and full in quality 

 than that of his more famous kinsman, and the 

 song has not so rich a variety. Although both 

 birds are ashen gray, the Catbird is slightly 

 darker and its markings are easily distinguished 

 — a black cap, and a patch of chestnut under the 

 tail; no white feathers anywhere. 



He is of a prankish, playful disposition, and 

 so tame as to enliven the very dooryard. As a 

 devourer of cutworms and other insect pests he 

 is unsurpassed. Before cherries and berries are 

 ripe he has well earned his share of them; and 

 who would be so niggardly as to grudge what he 

 takes? 



