BIRDS AND BATTLEFIELDS. 177 



beak's tune more naturally than Master Gross- 

 beak could do it liimself. The peculiar throaty, 

 semi-guttural tones of the cardinal Avere repro- 

 duced with scientific precision. Nothing could 

 have been more realistic than the mocker's deliv- 

 ery of the flicker's long- drawn spring challenge, 

 ending in a quaver of affectionate assurance to 

 his mate. Few songs are more complicated than 

 that of the purple martin, but in this case the 

 mocker was, as usual, equal to the emergency, 

 putting in all the curves and wrinkles and gut- 

 tural warblings. 



Besides, our vocal gymnast mimicked the 

 peculiar calls of the red-headed woodpecker, 

 the " mew " of the catbird, the labial " zip " of 

 the brown thrasher, the alarm calls of the wood 

 thrush and the robin, the robin's "cheerily, 

 cheerily," the catbird's medley, and the " bob- 

 white " of the partridge. A slight explanation 

 is necessary in connection with the last-named 

 bird's call. The mocker never produced the 

 first syllable, " bob," but only the second, 

 '• white," just as if he had heard the call at 

 a distance, and had not caught the first part. 

 Why he should omit that, and yet imitate the 

 second syllable with perfect accuracy, is an 

 unsolved avian problem. No doubt it was 

 puzzling to " Bob " himself. 



