THE CATBIRD 
By WITMER STONE 
The National Association of Audubon Societies 
Educational Leaflet No. 70 
Most of our familiar American birds were named by the early settlers 
after well-known birds of the Old World to which they seemed to bear 
some resemblance. The Catbird, however, stood forth as a distinctive 
character of the New World, with no counterpart in the lands across 
the sea ; and, as in many cases of bird-christening, they named him after 
the character of his voice, which recalled to them the mewing of a cat. 
Even in America, the Catbird stands apart in a class by himself, so 
A CATBIRD AT HOME IN A MAPLE-BUSH 
far as characteristics and color are concerned.* We have learned, of 
course, that he is related to the Mockingbird and Thrashers, but perhaps 
not so very closely after all. His drab plumage, black cap and tail, and 
rusty under tail-coverts form a combination of colors not found, at any 
rate, among other ‘‘mockers,’’ nor, indeed, in any other North Ameri- 
can bird, while the deep blue eggs of the Catbird differ entirely from 
those of the Mockers and Thrashers, and recall those of the Thrushes, 
to which family, indeed, it would seem that the Catbird has some kinship. 
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