IMITATION AND MIMICRY. 333 



song of their sweetest bird in its whole compass? 

 The supposed degradation of his song," he adds, " by 

 the introduction of extraneous sounds and unex- 

 pected imitations, is, in fact, one of the chief excel- 

 lencies of this bird ; as these changes give a perpe- 

 tual novelty to his strain, keep attention constantly 

 awake, and impress every hearer with a deeper 

 interest in what is to follow. In short, if we believe 

 in the truth of that mathematical axiom, that the 

 whole is greater than a part, all that is excellent or 

 delightful, amusing or striking, in the music of birds, 

 must belong to that admirable songster, whose vocal 

 powers are equal to the whole compass of their 

 whole strains *." 



So very different a view of the powers of this bird 

 has been stated by a recent author, that we cannot 

 omit taking notice of it, premising, however, that it 

 does not appear whether it has been formed from 

 actual observation or merely from comparing the ac- 

 counts given in books. " This bird," says the author, 

 " not only sings with taste, and without monotony, 

 but also with action and animation. It is, perhaps, 

 one of the first of singing birds ; but to place it above 

 the nightingale, with Fernandez, Nieremburg, and 

 others, can only be done by those who have never 

 heard, or who have entirely forgotten the song of that 

 delightful bird. The voice of the mocking-thrush is 

 more loud and powerful, but by no means so agree- 

 able within a certain distance. Its song has little of 

 the softness, delicacy, and plaintive tenderness that 

 so peculiarly characterize the nightingale during 

 the season of love. As there is no bird among the 

 Americans at all to be compared to the mocking- 

 bird, it is not astonishing that they should have ex- 

 alted it into such an extraordinary character, and 

 raised it above all other birds. They have, however, 

 exaggerated its talents, in stating that it can imitate 

 *Amer. Ornith. ii,21. 



