375 fl‘llltASlll‘lRS, WRENS, ETC. 
     
    
   
   
    
     renowned songsters—the Nightingale, for instance—but Dr. R. \V. 
     
     Shul'eldt. writing in l’roi’. Newton's Dictionary of llirds, puts it very 
     
     nicely when he says: "I believe, were. he successfully introduced into 
     
     those countries where the Nightingale flourishes. that princely per- 
     
     former might, some day wince as he was obliged to listen to his own 
     
     most powerful strains poured forth with all their native purity by this 
     
     king of feathered moekers. . . . " 
     
    

    
     Nevertheless, it must not be supposed that every Mockingbird is a 
     
     mocker; there is much variation in their imitative gifts. Mr. L. M. 
     
     Loomis tells me of a Mockingbird he once heard singing in South 
     
     (‘arolina who imitated the notes of no less than thirty-two different 
     
     species of birds found in the same locality, and this during ten min- 
     
     utes’ continuous singing! This was a phenomenal performance, one I 
     
     have never heard approached, for in my experience many Moekingbirds 
     
     have no notes besides their own, and good mockers are exceptional. 
     
    
   
   
    
     704. Galeoscoptes carolinensis (Limzf). CA'I‘BIRD. (See Fig. 
     
     :35, IA) All: ('rown and tail black; run/er trul-mrerts cheat/1M, sometimes 
     
     spotted with slaty. and rarely largely slaty; rest of the plumage slaty gray. 
     
     1‘" ~94; W, ; '['.. 3am: ii, '00. 
     
    

    
     Ii’alzgw.——l\’ortli America; breeds in the eastern United States from the 
     
     (lult'Statt-s to New Brunswiek and northwestward to the Saskatchewan and 
     
     British Columbia; winters from Florida southward. 
     
    

    
     Washington. abundant S. 1%.. Apt. :3" to 0a.; occasionally winters. Sing 
     
     Sing. common 5. 1.. .\pl. 2* to Oct. '15. Cambridge. abundant S. R., May 6 
     
     to Sept. 30. 
     
    

    
     am, of twigs, grasses. and leaves. lined with rootlets. in thickets or 
     
     densely foliaged trees. [if/(m. three to live, rich greenish blue, ".94 x ‘67. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     The ('atbird is one of the most intelligent birds in North America: 
     
     He is inclined to be very friendly to man, and where he is well treated 
     
     and his confidence won he likes to nest near our homes, showing him- 
     
     self delightfully familiar. coming.r around the door steps, answering 
     
     one‘s calls and talk. and singing by the hour for our entertainment. 
     
     in the garden and orehard he is . s useful as he is enchanting, for he 
     
     is an untirin}: devourer of insects. and his value in preserving our 
     
     fruits can hardly be over ‘ated. in this way he earns his full share of 
     
     the fruit protected. and it should not be grudged to him when he pro- 
     
     ceeds to take it. as he surely will. 
     
    

    
     It, is not, generally known that the Catbird is a charming singer, 
     
     for the reason, probably. that his song is rarely loud, and is preferably 
     
     given from the depths of the thickest shrub he can find_ One more 
     
     often hears than sees him sing. and will miss even the hearing unless 
     
     quite near, and gifted with a listening ear. ever open to bird notes. 
     
    

    
     The (‘atbird mother is one of the most anxious and devoted, If