MOCKING-BIRD. 95 



from Fredericksburg in Virginia, to the southern parts of Geor- 

 gia; becoming still more numerous the farther I advanced to 

 the south. The berries of the red cedar, myrtle, holly, Cassine 

 shrub, many species of smilax, together with gum berries, gall 

 berries, and a profusion of others with which the luxuriant 

 swampy thickets of those regions abound, furnish them with a 

 perpetual feast. Winged insects, also, of which they are very 

 fond, and remarkably expert at catching, abound there even in 

 winter, and are an additional inducement to residency. Though 

 rather a shy bird in the northern states, here he appeared almost 

 half domesticated, feeding on the cedars and among the thickets 

 of smilax, that lined the roads, while I passed within a few feet; 

 playing around the planter's door, and hopping along the shin- 

 gles. During the month of February I sometimes heard a soli- 

 tary one singing; but on the second of March, in the neighbour- 

 hood of Savannah, numbers of them were heard on every hand, 

 vieing in song with each other, and, with the Brown Thrush, 

 making the whole woods vocal with their melody. Spring was 

 at that time considerably advanced; and the thermometer rang- 

 ing between 70 and 78 degrees. On arriving at New York, on 

 the twenty-second of the same month, I found many parts of 

 the country still covered with snow, and the streets piled with 

 ice to the height of two feet; while neither the Brown Thrush 

 nor Mocking-bird were observed, even in the lower parts of 

 Pennsylvania, until the 20th of April. 



The precise time at which the Mocking-bird begins to build 

 his nest varies according to the latitude in which he resides. In 

 the lower parts of Georgia he commences building early in April; 

 but in Pennsylvania rarely before the tenth of May ; and in New 

 York, and the states of New England, still later. There are par- 

 ticular situations to which he gives the preference. A solitary 

 thorn bush, an almost impenetrable thicket; an orange tree, ce- 

 dar, or holly-bush, are favourite spots, and frequently selected. 

 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 anxious to conceal, his nest, he very often builds 





