128 A MEADOW NEST. 



tered a call, aloud, clear ''quee-o,'' and followed 

 it instantly by a mocking squawk in an under- 

 tone. 1 could hardly believe my eyes and ears, 

 and at once gave much closer attention to him. 

 As if for the express purpose of convincing me 

 that I had not been mistaken, he instantly re- 

 peated his effort ; and after doing so two or three 

 times, he poured out his regular song in his 

 sweet, ringing voice, and followed it by a whis- 

 pered "mew," almost exactly in the tone of 

 pussy herself. 



He was not far from my window, across a 

 small yard, and as plainly seen through my 

 glass as though not six feet away. I saw his 

 beak and throat, and am absolutely certain that 

 he delivered every note. The absorbed singer 

 stood there motionless a long time, and carried 

 on this queer conversation with himself. It 

 sounded precisely like two birds, one of whom 

 was mocking or ridiculing the other in a low 

 tone. 



Sometimes the undertone, as said above, was 

 a squawk; again it resembled a squeal; now it 

 was petulant, as though the performer scoffed 

 at his own singing; and then it was a perfect 

 copy of the song itself, given in an indescribably 

 sneering manner. I could think of nothing but 

 the way in which one child will sometimes mock 

 the words of another. 



