Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/209

Rh poor thrush with stones, and destroy its nest whenever an opportunity presents; the farmer shoots it to save a pear ; and the gardener to save a raspberry ; some hate it, not knowing why : in a word, excepting the poor, nearly extirpated crow, I know no bird more generally despised and tormented than this charming songster.

The attachment which the Cat Bird shews towards its eggs or young is affecting. It even possesses a humanity, or rather a generosity and o-entleness, worthy of beings more elevated in the scale of nature. It has been known to nurse, feed, and raise the young of other species, for which no room could be afforded in their nests. It will sit on its eggs after the nest has been displaced, or even after it has been carried from one bush to another.

Like all our other Thrushes, this is very fond of bathing and rolling itself in the dust or sand of the roads or fields. Several are frequently seen together on the borders of small ponds or clear rivulets, immersed up to their body, splashing the water about tl>em until completely wetted ; then, ascending to the tops of the nearest bushes, they plume them- selves with apparent care, notwithstanding which they are at times so in- fested with a minute species of louse as to be destroyed by it. This is also the case with the Mocking Bird and the Ferruginous Thrush, many individuals of which I have known to be killed by these parasitic animals. Although the Cat Bird is a pleasant songster, it is seldom kept in a cage, and I believe all attempts at breeding it in aviaries have failed. Its food consists of fruits and berries of all descriptions, worms, wasps, and various other insects. Its flight is low, often rapid, and somewhat pro- tracted, generally performed by gUdings, accompanied with sudden jerks of the tail. It moves on the ground with alertness and grace, not unfrequently going before a person the whole length of the garden-walk.

The nest of the Cat Bird is large, composed externally of dry twigs and briars, mixed with withered leaves, weeds, and grass, and lined with black fibrous roots, neatly arranged in a circular form. The eggs are from four to six, of a plain glossy greenish-blue, without spots. Two and sometimes three broods are raised in the season.

I have placed a pair of these birds on a branch of the Blackberry Bush, on the fruit of which they feed. The young attain their full plumage before they depart in autumn.