In the catbird seat

Posted by Smokey Stover on September 03, 2009 at 03:22

In Reply to: In the catbird seat posted by RRC on September 02, 2009 at 14:56:

: : Regarding your entry "catbird" and "in the catbird seat": a catbird in the States is less well known for it's song than for the fact that they do not make their own nests; instead they lay their eggs in the nests of unwitting "donor" birds. It may well be that the phrase used by Red Barber is in some way based on this fact: the catbird enjoys some special advantage at the cost of others, the nest being its seat.

: The gray catbird is not a brood parasite. You may be confusing it with the brown-headed cowbird.

Quite right, RRC. But catbirds can be closer to black than grey, as is the case with the pair that has shown considerable attraction to my lilacs this year. Brown cowbirds have a different body shape from that of the slim, elegant catbird.
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• In the catbird seat RRC 03/September/09