196 CAT-BIRD. 



neighbourhood of Charleston about the 20th of March, when they feed on 

 insects found along the lanes and garden-walks; but none are heard to sing, 

 or are found to breed there. They are abundant during summer in the 

 whole of the western country, and are plentifully dispersed from Virginia to 

 the middle portions of Massachusetts, beyond which, proceeding eastward, I 

 saw none. They are in fact unknown in the State of Maine, as well as in 

 the British provinces. 



Their migration is performed mostly during night, when they move 

 slowly from bush to bush, scarcely ever extending their flight beyond the 

 breadth of the rivers which they meet with. In a place where not an indi- 

 vidual is to be seen in an afternoon, in the months of April or May, a con- 

 siderable number may be found the following morning. They seem to give 

 a preference to the Middle States during the summer season. Pennsylvania 

 is particularly favoured by them; and it would be difficult to walk through 

 an orchard or garden, along a field, or the borders of a wood, without being 

 saluted by their plaintive notes. They breed in these places with much 

 carelessness, placing their nests in any bush, tree, or briar that seems adapted 

 for the purpose, and seeming to think it unnecessary to conceal them from 

 man, who indeed ought to protect such amiable birds, but who sometimes 

 destroys them in revenge for the trifling depredations which they commit on 

 the fruits of the garden. 



No sooner has the Cat-bird made its appearance in the country of its 

 choice, than its song is heard from the topmost branches of the trees around, 

 in the dawn of the morning. This song is a compound of many of the 

 gentler trills and sweeter modulations of our various woodland choristers, 

 delivered with apparent caution, and with all the attention and softness 

 necessary to enable the performer to please the ear of his mate. Each 

 cadence passes on without faltering; and if you are acquainted with the song 

 of the birds he so sweetly imitates, you are sure to recognise the manner of 

 the different species. When the warmth of his loving bosom engages him 

 to make choice of the notes of our best songsters, he brings forth sounds as 

 mellow and as powerful as those of the Thrasher and Mocking-bird. These 

 medleys, when heard in the calm and balmy hours of retiring day, always 

 seem to possess a double power, and he must have a dull ear indeed, and 

 little relish for the simple melodies of nature, who can listen to them with- 

 out delight. 



The manners of this species are lively, and at intervals border on the 

 grotesque. It is extremely sensitive, and will follow an intruder to a con- 

 siderable distance, wailing and mewing as it passes from one tree to another, 

 its tail now jerked and thrown from side to side, its wings drooping, and its 

 breast deeply inclined. On such occasions, it would fain peck at your hand; 



