catbird Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun any of various birds of the Australian region whose males build ornamented structures resembling bowers in order to attract females
    bowerbird.
  2. noun North American songbird whose call resembles a cat's mewing
    gray catbird; Dumetella carolinensis; grey catbird.

WordNet


Cat"bird noun
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) An American bird (Galeoscoptes Carolinensis), allied to the mocking bird, and like it capable of imitating the notes of other birds, but less perfectly. Its note resembles at times the mewing of a cat.

Webster 1913