Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/207



Some individuals of this species spend the winter in the southern por- tions of East Florida, where I have found them during the months of December and January ; but the greater number retire beyond the limits of the United States about the middle of October. They are very x-arely seen in the State of Louisiana, nor have I known any to breed in that portion of the country. They pass in abundance through Georgia and the Carolinas earlv in September, feeding then on the berries of the Sweet Gum, those of the Poke and Sumach, the seeds of grasses, &c. On their return in spring, they reach the neighbourhood of Charleston, about the 20th of March, when they feed on insects found along the lanes and garden- walks ; but none are heard to sing, or are found to breed there. They are abundant during summer in the whole of the western country, and are plentifully dispersed from Virginia to the middle portions of Massachusetts, beyond which, proceeding eastward, I saw none. They are in fact unknown in the State of Maine, as well as in the British provinces.

Their migration is performed mostly during night, when they move slowly from bush to bush, scarcely ever extending their flight beyond the breadth of the rivers which they meet with. In a place where not an in- dividual is to be seen in an afternoon, in the months of April or May, a considerable number may be found the following morning. They seem to give a preference to the Middle States during the summer season. Pennsylvania is particularly favoured by them ; and it would be difficult to walk through an orchard or garden, along a field, or the borders of a wood, without being saluted by their plaintive notes. They breed in these places with much carelessness, placing their nests in any bush, tree, or briar that seems adapted for the purpose, and seeming to think it un- necessary to conceal them from man, who indeed ought to protect such amiable birds, but who sometimes destroys them in revenge for the trifling depredations which they commit on the fruits of the garden.

No sooner has the Cat Bird made its appearance in the country of its