(Galeoscoptes carolinensis.)

The catbird (fig. 18), like the thrasher, is a lover of swamps, and delights to make its home in a tangle of wild grapevines, greenbriars, and shrubs, where it is safe from attack and can find its favorite food in abundance. It is found throughout the United States west to the Rocky Mountains; occurs also in Washington, Idaho, and Utah, and extends northward into British America. It winters in the Southern States, Cuba, Mexico, and Central America.

The catbird always attracts attention, and the intruder upon its haunts soon understands that he is not welcome. There is no mistaking the meaning of the sneering voice with which he is saluted, and there is little doubt that this gave rise to the popular prejudice against the bird; but the feeling has been increased by the fact that the species is sometimes a serious annoyance to fruit growers. All such reports, however, seem to come from the prairie country of the West. In New England, according to the writer's experience the catbird is seldom seen about gardens or orchards; the reason may possibly be found in the fact that on the prairies fruit-bearing shrubs which afford so large a part of this bird's food are conspicuously absent. With the settlement of this region comes an extensive planting of orchards, vineyards, and small fruit gardens, which furnish shelter and nesting sites for the catbird, as well as for other species, with a consequent large increase in their numbers, but without providing the native fruits upon which they have been accustomed to feed. Under these circumstances, what is more natural than for the birds to turn to cultivated fruits for their supplies? The remedy is obvious; cultivated fruits can be protected by the simple expedient of planting wild species or others which are preferred by the birds. Some experiments with catbirds in captivity showed that the Russian mulberry was preferred to any cultivated fruit that could be offered.

The stomachs of 213 catbirds wore examined and found to contain 44 per cent of animal (insect) and 56 per cent of vegetable food.[3] Ants, beetles, caterpillars, and grasshoppers constitute three-fourths of the animal food, the remainder being made up of bugs, miscellaneous insects and spiders. One-third of the vegetable food consists of cultivated fruits, or those which may be cultivated, such as strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries; but while we debit the bird with the whole of this, it is probable—and in the eastern and well-wooded part of the country almost certain—that a large part was obtained from wild vines. The rest of the vegetable matter is mostly wild fruit, such as cherries, dogwood, sour gum, elder berries, greenbriar, spice berries, black alder, sumac, and poison ivy.

Although the catbird sometimes does considerable harm by destroying small fruit, the bird can not be considered injurious. On the contrary, in most parts of the country it does far more good than harm, and the evil it does can be reduced appreciably by the methods already pointed out.