20 THE AUDUBONGBUIEEE Ts 
In a Metropolitan House-Y ard 
By NE LuIE J. BAROODY 
Early in November a disabled Catbird drifted into the yard. He 
could fly from here to there in a gliding way without too much difficulty, 
but a sagging wing and a lame leg explained pathetically why he had 
lingered behind the autumn migration. I laid half an apple where he 
could find it. Bre’r Rabbit came along and ate it up. I put out the other 
half of the apple and a few raisins in a cocoanut shell and Mr. Squirrel 
took them all away. It was only on one or two occasions that I had the 
satisfaction of seeing the Catbird eat or that I found bill pecks in the 
apple, which was always kept within reach. “The bird became more and 
more emaciated as the cold increased and he was surely a sorry sight when 
on the afternoon of December the seventh fortune made a right-about 
turn in his direction and brought him to the feeding tray at the dining 
room window. Four Cardinals had been feeding there for weeks and 
the thing was full of sunflower seeds, which meant nothing to a starving 
Catbird. However, the place looked good enough to hold out promise 
and he did not leave the surrounding privet shrubs while I laid out an 
apple, a spoonful of peanut butter, raisins, and a few crushed nut meats. 
He did not eat ravenously as might have been expected, but took good 
hearty tastes of each. When night came he tucked his head under his 
wing and stayed where he was, and the thermometer dropped steadily so 
that it was not much above zero in the morning. “The Cardinals came 
for breakfast and found the precious table had changed ownership, and 
no redbird was allowed to set foot on it! “They fell back abashed and after 
the first few hours, made no effort to repossess it, contenting themselves 
with seeds that were thrown under the window. A telephone talk with 
Mr. Karl Plath brought valuable advice and an emergency supply of food 
for an insectivorous bird’s diet. Meal worms, dried ants’ eggs, and a 
mixture containing cod liver oil were spread on the table and were grate- 
fully received. “Che cold increased for several days until the thermometer 
finally touched fifteen degrees below zero. A few spruce boughs were 
tied among the privet branches to serve as a wind break on the west and, 
as the window faces south, the bird survived. ‘The Sparrows came flocking 
after the peanut butter and the Catbird seemed strangely tolerant of 
them as compared to his behavior towards the Cardinals. A hissing noise 
seemed to be his only effort to ward off mob violence during those coldest 
days. ‘here was some uncanny effect in it though, for after a week 
or ten days those Sparrows literally melted off the tray and left the 
Catbird in full and sole possession, the autocrat of the window sill. After 
the first night the bird left the place to sleep. Soon after four o’clock 
