154 YOUNG AMERICA IN FEATHERS. 



ciated; probably because he seldom gives a 

 " stage performance," but sings as he goes about 

 his work. In any momentary pause a few liquid 

 notes bubble out ; on his way for food, a con- 

 venient fence post is a temptation to stop a 

 moment and utter a snatch of song. His man- 

 ner is of itself a charm, but there is really a 

 wonderful variety in his strains. He has not 

 perhaps so fine an organ as his more celebrated 

 relative, the thrasher ; he cannot, or at least he 

 does not, usually produce so clear and ringing a 

 tone. Nor is his method the same ; he does not 

 so often repeat himself, but varies as he sings, 

 so that his aria is full of surprises and un- 

 expected turns. Doubtless, persons expert at 

 finding imitations of other birds' notes would dis- 

 cover some in his. But I am a little skeptical 

 on the subject of conscious " mocking." When 

 the catbird sings I hear only the catbird, and 

 in the same way I take pleasure in the song of 

 thrasher or mockingbird, nor care whether any 

 other may have hit upon his exact combinations. 

 After the catbird, silence, broken only by 

 the soft, indescribable utterances that are at 

 the same time the delight and the despair of the 

 bird-student. Some birds, upon entering this 

 solitary retreat, announced themselves by a sin- 

 gle note, or call, as effectually as if they had 

 sent in a card, while others stole in, took quick 



