American robin

“There have come almost together the cat-bird, which is in fact the Northern mocking-bird, and has a magnificent and various note, besides the harsh sort of scream to which he owes his vulgar appellation of the cat-bird, several thrushes, the American robin redbreast, a truculent feathered biped as big as our blackbird, with a splendid scarlet velvet waistcoat coming half-way down his thighs, like a beau of George II. 's time, or Mr. Garrick in the character of Macbeth.”

Further Records, 1848-1883: A Series of Letters