102 MOCKING-BIRD. 



ingale, which posseses its own native notes alone. Further; if we 

 consider, as is asserted by Mr. Barrington, that "one reason of 

 " the Nightingale's being more attended to than others is, that 

 " it sings in the night;" and if we believe with Shakspeare, that 



" The Nightingale, if she should sing by day 

 "When every goose is cackling, would be thought 

 No better a musician than a Wren," 



what must we think of that bird, who in the glare of day, when 

 a multitude of songsters are straining their throats in melody, 

 overpowers all competition; and by the superiority of his voice, 

 expression and action, not only attacts every ear, but frequently 

 strikes dumb his mortified rivals; when the silence of night 

 as well as the bustle of day, bear witness to his melody; and 

 when even in captivity, in a foreign country, he is declared by 

 the best judges in that country, to be fully equal to the song of 

 their sweetest bird in its whole compass? The supposed degra- 

 dation of his song by the introduction of extraneous sounds, and 

 unexpected imitations, is, in fact, one of the chief excellencies 

 of this bird; as these changes give a perpetual novelty to his 

 strain, keep attention constantly awake, and impress every hear- 

 er 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 admira- 

 ble songster, whose vocal powers are equal to the whole com- 

 pass of their whole strains. 



The native notes of the Mocking-bird have considerable re- 

 semblance to those of the Brown Thrush, but may easily be dis- 

 tinguished by their greater rapidity, sweetness, energy of ex- 

 pression and variety. Both, however, have in many parts of the 

 United States, particularly in those to the south, obtained the 

 name of Mocking-bird. The first, or Brown Thrush, from its 

 inferiority of song being called the French, and the other the 

 English Mocking-bird. A mode of expression probably originat- 





