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A bird of the hottest and driest sage-brush plains. Very shy and retir- 
ing and not to be seen except by the most enthusiastic and persistent 
student of birds. 
704. Catbird. Dumetdla carolinensis. L, 8-94. Plate LXXV B. Evenly slate- 
grey all over except for a black cap and chestnut undertail-coverts. 
Distinctions. Not likely to be mistaken for any other species. In spite of uniform 
greyness like the Dipper an entirely different looking and acting bird — long and slender, 
with long tail and black cap. A brush-haunter with no particularly aquatic habits. 
Field Marks. Even grey colour with black cap and sprightly habits. Its character- 
istic call, a cat-like “ Meouw , has given the bird its name. Another common note is like 
“Ma-ry ” many times repeated and has suggested the homely name of Mary-bird. Its 
song is veiy fluent and easily distinguished from the similar one of the Brown Thrasher 
by its consisting of single phrases. 
Nesting. In thickets or densely foliaged shrubs, nest of twigs, grasses, and leaves 
lined with rootlets. 
Distribution. Eastern North America. In Canada, across the southern part of the 
Dominion west to the coast in southern British Columbia. 
Though the acknowledged vocal inferior of the Mockingbird, the 
Catbird at its best rises to a high position as a songster, but there is much 
individual variation and while one bird may be of prima-donna rank, an 
excellent singer, the next may be quite ordinary in voice and performance. 
Much depends on the sounds it hears, as it is a mocker by disposition and 
inclination, and it takes the agonizing squeak of an ungreased wagon wheel 
or a rusty barn-door hinge as a model as readily as more agreeable sounds. 
But even with such parenthetic interpolations occasionally introduced the 
song of the Catbird is a remarkably fine performance when listened to 
with an understanding ear. Those to whom it has become endeared by 
association might not trade it for a more consistently perfect performance. 
A good Catbird song needs no excuse or apology. Its common plaintive 
inquiry for “Ma-ry” may become slightly exasperating when reiterated too 
close to the house. Its usual call note like the mew of a cat, which it 
utters in the brush while curiously investigating the human intruder, is well- 
known to most country frequenters, and seems to have aroused some slight 
prejudice against it in the minds of its less experienced hearers. 
It is a brush frequenter, and like many other species haunting such 
habitats from whence close observations can be made with a minimum of 
danger, its curiosity is well developed. It sits on some tall spray rising 
above the general tangle, its tail depressed and body held low to the perch, 
and pours forth its medley of song. Phrase follows phrase in rapid succession 
and snatches of all the bird songs of the neighbourhood appear intermixed 
with occasional harsher notes which are given with as much care and finish 
as the more melodious ones. When an intruder is detected approaching, 
the outpour stops with a sudden squeak, the tail flies up, and the bird comes 
to attention. After a moment’s observation it drops to a lower level 
where, with safe tangle close at hand, it saucily investigates the approaching 
intruder, and, with expressive tail, wig-wags the results of its observations, 
presumably to a hiding mate. Finally it plunges into the tangle where, 
confident of security, it peers out at the disturber of its privacy through 
the many small openings between crisscrossed branches. Gradually 
it works closer and closer for a better view, hopping from perch to perch, 
alert, mewing and uttering low asides to the world in general and perhaps 
its mate in particular. Its remarks may be humorous and even sar- 
castic but never become caustic, and though the general bearing is saucy 
