bushes, where an entanglement of the foundation with the stems is necessary for a support. The average 
of nests in the former position is between five and six inches in external diameter, by four deep. In the 
latter position they frequently measure eight to twelve inches in diameter, by six deep. The diameter 
of cavity averages about three and one-fourth, the depth two and one-half inches ; from this they rarely 
vary half an inch. 
EGGS: 
The complement of the first set consists of four or five eggs; the second, of two or three. They 
are dark green in color, and average .95 x .69. They seldom measure less than .88 or more than 1.05 
in long diameter, or less than .60 or more than .75 in short diameter. Rarely white eggs are found. 
DIFFERENTIAL POINTS: 
If the color of the egg is once fixed in the mind, no difficulty will ever occur in identifying them, 
as the color is very uniform and entirely different from that of any other egg, not only of this State 
but of entire North America. The nest may always be recognized by its size and materials. 
REMARKS : 
The drawing on Plate XVII was made from a nest built the third week in May, 1878. Its found- 
ation is composed of twigs of oak, weed-stems, and slender pieces of grapevine. The superstructure 
consists largely of grapevine-bark; the lining is of rootlets. It represents the average size and position. 
Owing to a popular prejudice, the Catbird is much persecuted ; they have the reputation of sucking 
eggs and killing the young of other birds, besides stealing the berries and fruit of the garden. How 
the first accusation was started, and the cause of its wide-spread dissemination, it is difficult to deter- 
mine ; so far as I am aware, the evidence is all circumstantial. The cry of the bird is so like the 
animal after which it is named, that the association is not at all calculated to give it character; and 
where the Catbird is most observed during the nesting-season the Blue Jay is so abundant that I am 
inclined to the opinion that the sins of the latter have been shouldered upon the former. That the 
Catbird frequents the cherry-trees and berry-bushes, and uninvited helps himself to the fruit, can not 
be denied, nor can it be gainsayed that this loss is more than compensated by the amount of worms and 
insects destroyed. It would hardly be justice to this much-abused Thrush to pass him by without some 
mention of his song, for of all our singing birds, save one, there is none that can excel him in variety 
and combination of notes, though it must be admitted that they are at times very harsh and unpleasant. 
There is, however, great difference in individuals; some have not only a song peculiar to their species, 
but also mimic unexceptionably the birds by which they are surrounded. A Catbird which some years 
since built for several seasons in the yard of a friend, so excelled as a vocalist and mimic, that he at- 
tracted the attention and admiration of the whole neighborhood. At intervals throughout the day, from 
a favorite perch upon a pear-tree, he would drop his tail and wings, loosen his feathers until they 
seemed to stand almost on end, and assuming a comical, semi-quizzical look, pour forth volumes of as 
pure notes as ever came from a feathery throat. But it was in the early morning and late evening that 
he made his best efforts. After the sun had gone down, and the western heavens were aglow with soft 
red light, he seemed in his happiest mood. At such a time, seated upon his favorite limb, he com- 
manded the attention of a large audience, which he would first please, then astonish, then disappoint, 
then enrapture, then amuse, and finally, just as twilight was fading into night, as if it was a fitting 
tail-piece to his opera-bouffe, he would convulse his hearers with laughter by mimicking the crow of a 
young cochin rooster confined in a coop near by; after which he would suddenly drop from the tree to 
the bushes beneath, where his mate sat upon the nest. In the Sirring of 1873 lie failed to return, to the 
great disappointment of many friends. 
76 
