The Catbird 
Taken in Idaho Photo by H. J. Rust 
CATBIRD AND NEST 
intense example of “robin’s egg blue,” or “bird-egg color”); glossy. Av. size 24.1 x 17.5 
(.95 x .69). Season: First two weeks in June; one brood. 
General Range. —Eastern United States and British Provinces, west regularly 
to and including the Rocky Mountains, irregularly to the Pacific Coast in British 
Columbia and Washington. Breeds from the Gulf States northward to Saskatchewan, 
and south in the West to northeastern Oregon, northern Utah, and northeastern New 
Mexico. Winters in the Southern States, Cuba, middle America to Panama. Resident 
in Bermuda. Accidental in Europe, and on the Farallon Islands. 
Occurrence in California. —Accidental on the Farallon Islands; one record: 
Sept. 4, 1884. 
Authority.—Townsend, C. H. (Minins carolinensis ), Auk, vol. ii., 1885, p. 215. 
THE PURELY ACCIDENTAL occurrence of a single Catbird, as 
recorded above, will hardly afford us a decent excuse to rehearse the 
virtues of one of our prime favorites, the peer in song of any of the eastern 
singers. But the date of this capture, September 4th, is not without 
significance in its support of our general thesis, that such eastern species 
as have recently extended their range to include the Pacific Northwest 
may be found virtually feeling their way down the coast in autumn in 
search of a shorter route to their winter home. The Catbird is a regularly 
established resident of eastern Washington, and recently has made its 
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