Auj>-. 1888.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



117 



'rhouj;li it was II o'cIdcU and a starli-jht 

 iiiu;lit, almost too dark for sliooting, wo pro- 

 cured a boat and W(Mit in search of the strange 

 visitor, whose voice liore more resemblance to 

 the hooting of an owl or the harsh croaking of 

 a frog, tlian any tiling else. We kntnv it must 

 be some strange waler liird, and 1 natnrally 

 concluded ttiat il was tlu^ night Heron, Ardia 

 iii/cticdrd.r (Wilson), from llie continual sound 

 of " (luok, quok." 



We paddled softly in liii' dirci-lina ut tli(^ 

 sound, the gunner standing in the bow. We 

 ran tlie little boat straight into the marsh, when 

 suddenly the object of our search rose almost 

 from under the boat, too close for a shot, and 

 the darkness rendered it impossible to get a 

 shot at any distance, so we had to give it up 

 and return lionie a much disappointetl party. 



The next morning (o our great satisfaction, 

 the ghostly cry was .ig.-iln heard in tlie same 

 s|)ol frcini uhii-h we had friglitened it the night 

 l)efore. The boat was again brought into use 

 and the enthusiastic amateurs went in search of 

 the stranger. 



This time the expedition was crowned with 

 success and in a few minutes the beautiful little 

 visitor had fallen a prey to ornithological zeal. 

 It proved to be an exipiisite specimen of Anlcn 

 wi7(.v, but unfortun.-itely it eould not be pre- 

 serveil, as none of us were equal to the task and 

 the weather was too warm for it to be sent 

 farther afield. 



The extreme length of the bird was nut more 

 than twelve inches; the plumage was remark- 

 ably varied and beautiful. 



I would like to hear from others on this sub- 

 ject, as I tliink the occurrence of this bird is 

 rare in salt marshes. 



The Mockingbird as a Mimic. 



It has someliow ha|)pened that in my re- 

 searches in ornithological literature I have never 

 met with a description of the Jlockingbird's re- 

 markable genius as a mimic, and so the other 

 day, when I heard a wonderful medley proceed- 

 ing from a cage by the window of a cottage, I 

 stopped to listen and was richly rewarded for 

 so doing. 



As I had thought, the musician was a .Mock- 

 ingbird, and a better singer I never heard. The 

 extent of his repertoire was something wonder- 

 ful and he imitated the notes of some of our 

 Willi birds and domestic fowls with a facililv 



that surprised me. Song after song poured 

 fortli from his little throat without intermis- 

 sion, "till he stopped for a moment's rest, soon 

 to go on again as before with an almost intinite 

 variety of notes. 



A partial list of the birds and animals he so 

 well imitated may prove of Interest: .\merican 

 (Joldtinch, Canary, Blue-fronted Jay, I'ark- 

 man's Wren (song and scolding notes), Brew- 

 er's Blackbird, Humming bird, dog barking, 

 ('rimson Ilouse-linch. Turkej's and young. Hen 

 clucking and cackling. Yellow-bellied Kly- 

 catcher, young chickens, howling of a puppy, 

 frogs croaking, rooster's crow. 



The crowing of a rooster was of course in 

 miniature but a charming mitation and it was 

 always followed by an artistic little trill or 

 llomish. It is but just to give this talented 

 Mockingbird credit for his own music al.so, 

 which was of great merit and shoiUd, I think, 

 properly entitle him to tlie name of composer. 



The lady who owned the bird soon observed 

 my interest and kindly volunteered some infor- 

 mation regarding him. He could imitate, I was 

 told, almost any sound he heard. At one time 

 the lady had a cough and was considerably an- 

 noyed to hear her pet mimicking her contin- 

 ually. The bird used to imitate a neighbor 

 who whistled for his dog. The whistle was re- 

 peated so exactly by the Mockingbird that 

 someone in the house would often remark, 

 '' there, t'barlie has lost his dog again." 



The Mockingbird. 



UV C. S. BllIMI.EY, KAI.EICll, N. C. 



The Mocker has always been one of my fa- 

 vorite birds since the first time we becanu^ mu- 

 tually acquainted; liis courage, cons]iicuous 

 ai)pearance and lively song all combining with 

 his distinguished maimers to make a favorable 

 impression on strangers. 



Tlie Mockers have only just arrived from the 

 .South, but have already settled down to their 

 old ways and can be seen in all their accus- 

 tomed haunts. The Mocker in this part of the 

 world prefers the society of man — I ijresume 

 the woods make him feel lonesome, as he is 

 never found there — and wherever there is a 

 house there also is a pair or two of Mockers 

 and what follows, as a matter of course, a good 

 deal of noisy bird music as well. 



As a singer the Mocker is unequalled, al- 

 though considered by many as a luere piratical 

 imitator of other birds, he always secnns to me 



