164 Bird -Lore could be called a molt — but became more and more droopy, refusing or indifferently eating the various things we tried, till some one gave him a fly ! Then all went well ; he ate all the flies we could catch, sometimes twenty at a meal, and also wasps and bees. When he saw somebody bringing one of the latter dainties he would jump about in great excitement, then, snatching the insect, kill it with a few quick pinches and swallow it, poison and all. He also learned the motion made in catching a fly, and was on the alert as soon as he saw me snatch for one. Towards the end of the month I let him out of doors — though he had often been out in the house — and after that he had exercise nearly every day, flying about a little, coming readily to me when I whistled, and generally returning to the cage quickly enough for a few flies. He evidently regarded the cage as home, for let any large bird pass at what he considered too close quarters and in he went like a flash, there to remain till the danger was past. On one occa- sion, when he was hopping among the plants in the house, I saw him carefully watching a Crow that was fighting his way against a heavy wind. Suddenly the Crow gave way, making a swoop almost to the window, and in far less time than it can be told the Catbird was in the cage and up on a perch, so terrified that it was some minutes before he was himself again. About the middle of September Oliver Twist caught the migra- tion fever, and when no one was in sight was very uneasy in his cage, not only during the day but at night as well. In the evening the bird was always moved to a dark back hall, where he usually settled down at once ; now he was most restless, chucking and mewing sometimes for nearly an hour, and not until late in October did he finally become quiet. Cool days, also, made him more uneasy. During the fall months Oliver ate every sort of berry I could find, from dogwood to Boston ivy, with two exceptions : those of the wild rose and the catbriar. The seeds of the ivy berries he always ejected, perfectly clean and free from pulp, begianing about half an hour after swallowing them ; he would work the bill a little, as if the seed were in his mouth, a moment later pushing it out with the tongue. At first they appeared quite rapidly — two or three or even more in a minute — then more slowly, and continued for at least three- (piarters of an hour. As the house flies disappeared, the big blue and green species, that during the summer were .simply scorned, grew quite tempting; but even these gave out, and it became very difficult to find proper food for the little fellow. Figs for a time supplied the place of ber- ries, but he tired of them at last, and bits of meat never passed for
