240 



CA T BIRD. 



This bird might with propriety be ranged with the wag- 

 tails, its notes, manners, and habit of building on the ground 

 being similar to these. It usually hatches twice in the season ; 

 feeds on small bugs and the larvae of insects, which it chiefly 

 gathers from the ground. It is very generally diffused over 

 the United States, and winters in Jamaica, Hispaniola, and 

 other islands of the West Indies. 



CAT BIKD.* {Turdus lividus) 



PLATE XIV.— Fig. 3. 



Muscicapa Carolinensis, Linn. Syst. 328. — Le Gobe-mouche brim de Virginie, 

 Briss. ii. 365. — Cat Bird, Catesb. i. 66. — Latham, ii. 353. — Le Moucherolle de 

 Virginie, Buff. iv. 562.— Lucar lividus, apice nigra, The Cat Bird, or Chicken 

 Bird, Bartram, p. 290.— Peale's Museum, No. 6770. 



ORPHJEUS FELIVOX.-Swaixson. 

 Turdus felivox, Bonap. Synop. p. 75. 



We have here before us a very common and very numerous 

 species in this part of the United States ; and one as well 

 known to all classes of people as his favourite briers or black- 

 berry bushes. In spring or summer, on approaching thickets 

 of brambles, the first salutation you receive is from the cat 

 bird ; and a stranger, unacquainted with its note, would 

 instantly conclude that some vagrant orphan kitten had got 

 bewildered among the briers, and wanted assistance ; so 

 exactly does the call of the bird resemble the voice of that 



* At first sight, this species, singular both in habits and structure, 

 appears to range with Brachypus ; but a more minute inspection shows 

 that it will rather stand as an aberrant form with Orphieus. The struc- 

 ture of the bill, feet, and tail, are all of the latter ; while the colours, 

 and their distribution, agree with Brachypus, particularly the rufous 

 vent. That part is a nearly constant mark among the Brachipi, being of 

 a different and brighter colour, and very generally red or yellow. The 

 true Brachipi do not seem to extend to North America ; they are chiefly 

 confined to Africa and the warmer countries of India. 



