Catbird seat
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"The catbird seat" is an idiomatic phrase used to describe an enviable position, often one of great advantage.
The catbird is an Australian bird of the family Ptilonorhynchidae, known for the extraordinary lengths that the males will go to in order to build a bower to attract a mate. Some birds will assemble several hundred colored rocks or shells, arranging them in a remarkable and artistic display, in order to build the "seat" atop which his mate will eventually be enthroned.
"In the catbird seat" was among the numerous, folksy expressions with which the legendary baseball broadcaster Red Barber delighted listeners. Some say he invented the expression; others say that he dug it up from his Southern origins. However, it may in fact have originated elsewhere. In a 1942 humorous short story titled "The Catbird Seat," James Thurber[1] featured a character, Mrs. Barrows, who liked to use the phrase. Another character, Joey Hart, explained that Mrs. Barrows must have picked up the expression from Red Barber. To Red, according to Joey, "sitting in the catbird seat" meant "'sitting pretty,' like a batter with three balls and no strikes on him." According to Barber's daughter, however, it was only after Barber read Thurber's story that he started using the phrase "in the catbird seat" himself.
According to Douglas Harper's Online Etymological Dictionary, the phrase refers to the Gray Catbird (Dumetella Carolinensis) and was used already in the 19th century in the southern United States.[2]
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Image of a satin bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus) and the collection of objects near its nest
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