130 
CAT-BIRD. 
fitable of his early fruit. The Cat -bird has a particular partiality 
for the finest ripe mellow pears; and these are also particular 
favourites with the farmer. But the Cat-bird has frequently the 
advantage of the farmer by snatching off the first-fruits of 
these delicious productions; and the farmer takes revenge by 
shooting him down with his gun, as he finds old hats, wind-mills 
and scarecrows are no impediments in his way to these forbidden 
fruits; and nothing but this resource, the ultimatum of farmers 
as well as kings, can restrain his visits. The boys are now set to 
watch the cherry trees with the gun ; and thus commences a train 
of prejudices and antipathies that commonly continue through 
life. Perhaps too, the common note of the Cat-bird, so like the 
mewing of the animal whose name it bears, and who itself sus- 
tains no small share of prejudice, the homeliness of his plumage, 
and even his familiarity, so proverbially known to beget con- 
tempt, may also contribute to this mean, illiberal and persecuting 
prejudice; but with the generous and the good, the lovers of na- 
ture and of rural charms, the confidence which this familiar 
bird places in man by building in his garden, under his eye, the 
music of his song, and the interesting playfulness of his man- 
ners, will always be more than a recompence for all the little 
stolen morsels he snatches. 
The Cat-bird measures nine inches in length; at a sm^l dis- 
tance he appears nearly black; but on a closer examination is 
of a deep slate colour above, lightest on the edges of the prima- 
ries, and of a considerably lighter slate colour below, except 
the under tail coverts, which are very dark red; the tail, which 
is rounded, and upper part of the head, as well as the legs and 
bill, are black. The female differs little in colour from the male. 
Latham takes notice of a bird exactly resembling this, being 
found at Kamtschatka; only it wanted the red under the tail: 
probably it might have been a young bird, in which the red is 
scarcely observable. 
This bird has been very improperly classed among the Fly- 
Catchers. As he never seizes his prey on wing, has none of their 
manners, feeds principally on fruit, and seems to differ so little 
