Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1893-10-31
THE TUNEFUL cATeIRD.

The TUNEFO1 CAT8IR0.
4 Versatile Singer and Good Minnie, Whs
Thinks He Outclasses the Violin.
The most constant of our feathered
summer b0arders is catbird. says a
writer in Kate Fields Washington.
He comes to us early in April and be-
gins singing as soon as he has chosen
bis summer apartment This year he
and his quiet little wife selected
their home In the midst of the Eng.
lish ivy that covers an old acacia a
few feet from my chamber window
pleasant choice for all parties con-
cerned.
After few days, spent principally
In the branches of a neighboring
cherry tree-for our friends have but
scanty notions regarding the differ
ence between mine and thine. and at
cherry time they cast even these few
dim ideas to the wind-au0ther egg
Is laid beside its brother, and so it
goes on until there are four small
blush eggs safely hidden under the
ivy leaves awaiting the warm pres
ure OF the mothers breast. Then
Nine. Catbird's sport is over.
1t seems to me the catbird has
never been sufficiently praised. This
is probably partly his own fault. and
due to a particularly harsh note
which he utters when startled or
angry-a grating ''miau," much like
the mewing OF u cat with a case of
chronic catarrh-and from this dis
cordant cry the sweet singer has
earned his name. But this is only
his war cry or note of warning, ut
tered to bid his mate beware of some
enemy prowling near. The danger
past his real song begins, and a
splendid one it is, for he belongs to
the family OF thrushes and has their
gift of mimicry. There is a little
Italian In our home. a wonderful lit
tie body, who, being forever busy, is
constantly In demand, and many
times day the cry is raised for her:
''Cherubina! Cherubinaw Our friend
in the ivy has heard our CALL it
pleased him not a little. Perhaps
there was something about the soft,
musical infection of the Italian name
that reminded him of the blue skies
and tropical vegetation of the south
ern land where he spends half the
year; so he set himself to master its
intricacies, and 10! one morning the
whistle came clear and pure, "Cher-
misunderstanding" with the true
Latin infection on the penultimate.
So it is with everything. He is eager
to learn new songs and struggles man.
fully to master the pipings of all his
feathered neighbors. To do him JUS
tice, he succeeds remarkably we'll; in
fact there is but one call that escapes
him altogether-the whistle of the
quail He cannot say "Bob White"
The other day he discovered a new
field for his labors when from within
the house rose the high, pure notes of
the violin. He stopped singing at
once, cooked his heed, and listened
eagerly. Clearly this was new ex-
perience to him, and it was evident
that he could not understand how any
bird could sing SO long without stop
ping to take breath. He himself pre-
fers to whistle few bars. stop and
look about bit while he trims his
feathers, and then begin again. But
this audacious and long winded crea-
ture kept right on with trills, scales,
and arpeggois following each other in |
quick succession, with never breath
Ing space between. At last the gen.
tleman in gray quite lost patience.
Was be, professional singer, to be
rlvaled thus? So he dashed ruth
lessly into the performance. turning !
the solo into most remarkable duet.
and although he doubtless violated
every known and many unknown
rules Of harmony the result was de-
cidedly pleasing. Then suddenly the
songster within doors closed
with flourish. "Ha, ha." said our
gray friend, II thought should tire
you out eventually" And with a
asst triumphant note he flew away to
recount his exciting experience to his
mate.