THE MOCKING-BIRD. 373 



When day resigns to night his reign, 

 And stillness stretches o'er the plain. 

 Then, Bird of Melody ! thy note 

 Doth on the gales of ether float. 

 That note harmonious, truly thincy 

 Approaches strains almost divine : 

 When lifts the moon her lamp on high. 

 And dashes light o'er earth and sky. 

 Its warbling echoes onward roll. 

 And lap in feeling's bliss the soul. 



Bird of Mockery ! Bird of Song ! 



To THEE all pleasing notes belong. (*^) • 



(+') Order, Passeres, (Linn.) Mocking-Bird. 



The Tuidus Polyghttus, (Linn.) Mocking-Bird, or Mimic- 

 Thrush, belongs to the numerous genus Turdus described iu 

 note (45) of the first Part. Itscolouris above dusky-ash, beneath 

 pale-ash; primary quill feathers white on the outer half; nine and 

 a half inches long; female nearly like the male ; feeds on berries, 

 fruits, and insects; eggs four or five, cinereous blue, spotted 

 with brown ; has two broods in a year ; found in Anierica, 

 from the States of New England to Brazil, and in many of the 

 adjacent islands ; more numerous in those states south of the 

 Delaware ; generally migratory iu the latter and resident in the 

 former ; a warm climate and low country not far from the sea are 

 most congenial to it ; sings occasionalfy as early as February; builds 

 in Georgia in April, in Pennsylvania in May, and in New York 

 and the New Englivpd States still later ; prefers a thorn bush, an 

 impenetrable thicket, an orange tree, a cedar or a holly bush ; 

 souietimes a pear or apple tree, often a short distance from a 

 dwelling-house ; time of incubation fourteen days, during which 

 the male will attack both cats and snakes with great courage ; 



