THE MOCKING-BIRD. 65 
f 

The Mocking-bird (Orpheus Polyglottus). 
the preference. A solitary thornbush; an almost 
impenetrable thicket; an orange-tree, cedar, or 
hollybush, are favourite spots and frequently select- 
ed. It is no great objection with him that these 
happen sometimes to be near the farm or mansion 
house: always ready to defend, but never over-anx- 
ious 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 with-different individuals, according to 
the convenience 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 preseding year, intermixed with fine 
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