54 A COOL YOUNG MOCKER. 



him as a gentle reminder of the duty he owed to 

 his parents and his family. He sat crouched upon 

 the gravel and looked at me with calm black 

 eye, showing no fear and certainly no intention 

 of moving, even indulging in a nap while I 

 waited. 



Now appeared upon the scene several persons, 

 both white and black, each of whom wanted a 

 young mocking-bird for a cage ; but I stood 

 over him like a god-parent and refused to let 

 any one touch him. I began to fear that I 

 should have him on my hands at last, for even 

 the parents seemed to appreciate his character- 

 istics and to know that he could not be hurried, 

 and both were still busy following the vagaries 

 of number one. The mother now and then re- 

 turned to look after him and was greatly dis- 

 turbed by his unnatural conduct — and so 

 was I. He appeared stupid, as if he had come 

 out too soon, and did not even know how to hop. 

 It was twenty minutes by the watch before he 

 moved. His mother's calls at last aroused him ; 

 he raised himself upon his shaky little legs, 

 cried out, and started off exactly as number 

 one had done, — westward, hopping, and lifting 

 his wings at every step. Then I saw by the 

 enormous amount of white on his wings that he 

 was a singer. He went as far as the fence, and 

 there he paused again. In vain did the mother 



