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.
[3] The investigation of the food of the catbird, brown thrasher, and house wren was made by Mr. Sylvester D. Judd and published in the Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture for 1895, pp. 405-418.
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.
[THE BROWN THRASHER.]
(Harporhynchus rufus.)
The brown thrasher ([fig. 19]) breeds throughout the United States east of the Great Plains, and winters in the south Atlantic and Gulf States. It occasionally visits the garden or orchard, but nests in swamps or in groves standing upon low ground. While it generally prefers a thickly grown retreat, it sometimes builds in a pile of brush at a distance from trees. On account of its more retiring habits it is not so conspicuous as the robin, although it may be equally abundant. Few birds can excel the thrasher in sweetness of song, but it is so shy that its notes are not heard often enough to be appreciated. Its favorite time for singing is the early morning, when, perched on the top of some tall bush or low tree, it gives an exhibition of vocal powers which would do credit to a mockingbird. Indeed, in the South, where the latter bird is abundant, the thrasher is known as the sandy mocker.
The food of the brown thrasher consists of both fruit and insects. An examination of 121 stomachs showed 30 per cent of vegetable and 64 of animal food, practically all insects, and mostly taken in spring before fruit is ripe. Half the insects were beetles, and the remainder chiefly grasshoppers, caterpillars, bugs, and spiders. A few predaceous beetles were eaten, but, on the whole, its work as an insect destroyer may be considered beneficial.