76 
THE MOCKING-BIRD. 
of the young cat-birds from their nest, and 
put them into the nest of a stranger cat-bird ; 
and then watched, as before, to see what would 
happen. 
When the mother came back, and found 
the little intruders, she turned them out with- 
out any mercy. But as they had not far to 
fall, they were not hurt; though they were 
very likely to die of cold and hunger. At 
least, so her partner seemed to think ; for he 
took pity upon them, and began to feed them, 
as tenderly as if they had been his own off- 
spring. 
The cat-bird, in spite of his good disposi- 
tion, is not a general favourite. He has a 
great liking for cherries and pears, and a fatal 
habit of stealing them, wherever he can find 
them. In the fruit season, numbers of cat- 
birds leave the woods, and make sad havoc 
with the fruit trees in the farmers' orchard. 
As a natural consequence, the farmer is their 
deadly enemy; and shoots them down without 
any scruple. 
The boys, too, look upon the cat-bird with 
contempt, on account of his mewing note. 
His vocal powers, however, are not confined 
