MOCKING BIKD. 637 



(Iwclliniis. I.kLv'iI I o-.iCL' foiuul OIK' within five yards of ;ui iuhabitL'd negro shanty. The 

 hinls would aHgiit upon the tree witliout the slightest apparent fear, although I stood at 

 the foot of it; in fact I have always found this species unsuspicious when in the vicinity 

 of ha!)itations, but in the wilder sections thej^ are shy, and extremely difficult to approach. 

 Contrary to the usual hal)its of birds I have never known these to sing their full song 

 previous to the sea.^on of incul)ation. In winter they are generally silent, having only 

 some harsli alarm notes; but as spring advances they commence a low sputtering song, 

 us if they had not yet acquired suffiinent energy to render it loud and clear. I heard 

 them singing in this manner at Jacksonville, while they were bvnlding their nests, and 

 for a long time was under the impression that the Mocking Birds of Florida could not 

 ssing as well as those from Virginia. I frequently questioned the inhabitants about tliLs 

 peculiarit}', when they always informed me that the birds could sing very finely, and 

 were indignant when I told them that I had heard better songs from caged birds at the 

 north. 1 was not undeceived upon this point until I visited Lake Harney, in the latter 

 p.irtofMiy, 1872. We had crossed llie portage from Indian River, where these birds 

 are not very common during the breeding season, and had arrived at Lake Harney after 

 dark. We pitched our tents by the side of a palmetto grove, and retiring slept soundly 

 after our f itiguing journey, but we were awakened in the morning by what seemed a 

 perfect concert of bird voices, which, as they came from one point, we knew must be pro- 

 duced by a single indiviilual ; but it ^vas not until I had satisfied myself by actual inspec- 

 tion that I would believe it to be a Mocking Bird ; and when we perceived it was so we 

 paused in amazement to listen. The clear, mellow whistle of the Red Bird, the garrulous 

 notes of the Jav, the continuous warble of the Great Carolina Wren, Bob White's abrupt 

 call, the low Ijut lovely song of the Pine-wood Finch, followed by the harsli scream of 

 the Hawk, were all mmgled, without s\'stem, with strains of his owu, and those of many 

 other Ijirds, but in such a manner, and were given with such power, that the effect was 

 surpassingly fine. He had even caught the Bobolink's fragmentary attempts, which it 

 first practices while passing northward, and incorporated this into his lay, in the right place 

 and with charming exactness. He not only mimicked other birds but excelled them, and 

 ::ifter we had heard him their individual efforts seemed ((uite tame and spiritless. The 

 bird seemed uucon.scions of his merits, for he sat carelessly on a tree top, occasionly pavis- 

 ing in the midst of it all to arrange his feathers, or he would fly from place to place 

 without interrupting his musical carol. There were several in the vicinity, and they were 

 all in full song, so there was scarcely any time during the day, though the heat was 

 excessive, that we did not hear at least one of them. After these repeated cantatas we 

 could no longer doubt the vocal superiority of the Florida Mocking Bird.-<, for we had 

 never before listened to such melody Irom feathered throats, and it became evident that 

 all other of our native species must yield the palm to this, the King of Song. The Inagua 

 Mocking Bird, M. elegans and the Jamaica Mocking Bird, M. orpheus, both sing as well 

 as ours and imitate songs of other ijirds, but the Bahama Mocking Bird, M. bahamensis, 

 4is far as my experience shows, although a fine singer, never attempts to imitate the mel- 

 odies of other species. I have seen the Mocking Bird a number of times in Eastern 

 .Massachusetts on two or three occasions in winter. 



