162 BIRDS OF FIELD, FOREST AND PARK 



zone of song as the Hermit holds in the hearts 

 of New Englanders. Writers of prose and poetry- 

 have exhausted their vocabularies in the effort 

 to do full justice to this master of song; but 

 words fail to convey an adequate impression of 

 his utterances. Many years a^o, one day when 

 driving in Virginia from Williamsburg to the 

 site of old Jamestown, in passing through a 

 patch of second growth, I heard a song that 

 instantly arrested my attention. Immediately 

 I knew it for the song of the Mockingbird; for 

 there is in its varied notes much of the quality 

 that characterizes all the members of this family, 

 although its range is all its own. The songs of 

 many birds are drawn upon, but the style is 

 much like the Thrasher, and the effect is most 

 delightful. From all I have heard and read 

 about the Mockingbird's song, I conclude that 

 to realize the full effect of its wonderful expres- 

 sion, one should hear it in the misty moonlight 

 when the peach trees are in blossom. Under 

 these conditions it must be entrancing. 



Often I have met these birds during the win- 

 ter season, but then they are for the most part 

 silent, and their call notes when heard are 

 almost as harsh as those of the Catbird. When 

 perched, in appearance they are much like the 

 Loggerhead Shrike, but they are not nearly so 

 sleek, and the tail is longer and more drooping. 

 The upper parts are ashy gray, the wings and 

 tail blackish. There is considerable white on the 

 wing coverts, and the tail feathers and under 

 parts are whitish. They are about ten and one- 

 half inches in length. 



