THE MOCKING-BIRD. 19 



the preference. A solitary thorn bush, an almost impenetrable thicket, 

 an orange tree, cedar, or holly bush, are favorite spots, and frequently 

 selected. It is no great objection with him, that these happen, some- 

 times, to be near the farm or mansion house. Always ready to defend, 

 but never over-anxious to conceal, his nest, he very often builds within 

 a small distance of the house, and not unfrequently in a pear or apple 

 tree ; rarely at a greater height than six or seven feet from the ground. 

 The nest varies a little in different individuals, according to the con- 

 veniency of collecting suitable materials. A very complete one is now 

 lying before me, and is composed of the following substances: First, 

 a quantity of dry twigs and sticks; then, withered tops of weeds, of 

 the preceding year, intermixed with fine straws, hay, pieces of wool and 

 tow; and, lastly, a thick layer of fine fibrous roots, of a light-brown col- 

 or, lines the whole. The eggs are four, sometimes five, of a cinereous- 

 blue, marked with large blotches of brown. The female sits fourteen 

 days, and generally produces two broods in a season, unless robbed of 

 her eggs, in which case she will even build and lay the third time. She is, 

 however, extremely jealous of her nest, and very apt to forsake it if 

 much disturbed. It is even asserted by some of our bird-dealers, that the 

 old ones will actually destroy the eggs, and poison the young, if either 

 the one or the other has been handled. But I cannot give credit to this 

 unnatural report. I know, from my own experience at least, that it is not 

 always their practice ; neither have I ever witnessed a case of the kind 

 above mentioned. During the period of incubation, neither cat, dog, 

 animal nor man, can approach the nest without being attacked. The 

 cats, in particular, are persecuted whenever they make their appearance, 

 till obliged to retreat. But his whole vengeance is most particularlv 

 directed against that mortal enemy of his eggs and young, the black 

 snake. Whenever the insidious approaches of this reptile are discov- 

 ered, the male darts upon it with the rapidity of an arrow, dextrously 

 eluding its bite, and striking it violently and incessantly about the head, 

 where it is very vulnerable. The snake soon becomes sensible of its 

 danger, and seeks to escape; but the intrepid defender of his young re- 

 doubles his exertions, and, unless his antagonist be of great magnitude, 

 often succeeds in destroying him. 



With reference to the jealous care with which the female 

 guards her nest, Audubon, in his Birds of America, writes : 



During incubation the female pays such precise attention to the po- 

 sition in which she leaves her eggs when she goes to a short distance for 

 exercise and refreshment, to pick up gravel or roll herself in the dust, 

 that, on her return, should she find that any of them had been displaced 

 or touched by the hand of man. she utters a low, mournful note, at the 

 sound of which the male immediately joins her, and they are both seen 

 to condole together. Some people imagine that, on such occasions, the 



