The CAT BIRD (_Galeoscoptes Carolinensis_) is almost entirely slate-grey, which is darkest on the back and lightest on the under side; the top of the head is brownish black, the throat light grey, and the lower wing-covers rust-red. Its length is nine inches, the wing four inches, and the tail four inches and three lines. The best account of this bird has been given by Wilson, who has described it at great length. "The Cat Bird," says that graphic writer, "is very common in the United States, and arrives in the lower parts of Georgia from the south about the twenty-eighth of February, and probably winters in Florida. About the beginning of May he has already succeeded in building his nest. The place chosen for this purpose is generally a thicket of briars or brambles, a thorn bush, thick vine, or the fork of a small sapling; no great solicitude is shown for concealment, though few birds appear more interested for the safety of their nests and young. The materials employed are dry leaves, or weeds, small twigs, or fine dry grass; the interior is lined with fine black fibrous roots. The female lays four, sometimes five eggs, of an uniform greenish blue colour, without any spots. Two, and occasionally three broods, are raised in the year. [Illustration: THE CAT BIRD (_Galeoscoptes Carolinensis_).] "The manners of this species are lively, and at intervals border on the grotesque. It is extremely sensitive, and will follow an intruder to a considerable distance, wailing and mewing as it passes from one tree to another, its tail now jerked and thrown from side to side, its wings drooping, and its breast deeply inclined. On such occasions it would fain peck at your hand; but these exhibitions of irritated feeling seldom take place after the young have sufficiently grown to take care of themselves. In some instances I have known this bird at once to recognise its friend from its foe, and to suffer the former even to handle the treasure deposited in its nest with all the marked assurance of the knowledge it possessed of its safety; while, on the contrary, the latter had to bear all its anger. The sight of a dog seldom irritates it, but a single glance at the wily cat excites the most painful paroxysms of alarm. It never neglects to attack a snake with fury, though it often happens that it becomes the sufferer for its temerity.