NOT MALICE BUT MISCHIEF. 93 



could find. Should some bird in the room dis- 

 approve of this behavior, and scold, as the finch 

 was quite apt to do, the mocking-bird instantly 

 alighted beside him, humped his back till he 

 looked deformed, sidled two or three steps to- 

 wards him, stopped, and stared at his critic ; then 

 two or three steps more, stopping again, and in 

 every way acting more like a mischievous mon- 

 ster than a bird, till the astonished finch was 

 reduced to silence, and as meek as poor Mrs. 

 Quilp before the antics of her malicious little 

 spouse. 



In all these actions, even in his contests with 

 his room-mates, no anger ever appeared on the 

 part of the mocking-bird ; everything seemed 

 done to amuse himself and pass away the weary 

 hours, rather than from desire to hurt his neigh- 

 bors. In fact, he never did positively touch a 

 bird, to my knowledge, though he always acted 

 as though he intended to annihilate them. He 

 could hardly be called malicious ; rather (shall 

 we say ?) mischievous, and like Ariel " a tricksy 

 spirit." 



