MOCKINGBIRD. 387 



cedar swamp the Winter Wren provides a wonderfully cosy home 

 for her numerous family in the centre of a ball of green moss. 



Others may be regarded as the poets, the musicians of the feath- 

 ered tribe, and it would be a curious study for us to try to find out 

 whether those who cannot sing enjoy the singing of those who can. 

 In human , ears the melody of many of the birds is as pleasing 

 perhaps as it is to their own species, and in this respect there is 

 none more fascinating than the Mockingbird, whose rapturous music 

 excites admiration wherever it is heard. 



One of America's most gifted poets, who evidently knew and 

 appreciated the musical powers of the bird, thus describes it in words 

 well worthy of the subject. The scene is on the lower Mississippi, 

 a band of exiles is descending the river on a still evening in the 

 early summer. 



' ' Softly the evening came. The sun from the western horizon 

 Like a magician extended his golden wand o'er the landscape ; 



Then from a neighboring thicket, the Mockingbird, wildest of singers, 



Swinging aloft on a willow spray that hung o'er the water, 



Shook from his little throat such floods of delirious music, 



That the whole air and the woods and the waves seemed silent to listen. 



Plaintive at first were the tones and sad ; then soaring to madness 



Seemed they to follow or guide the revel of frenzied Bacchantes. 



Single notes were then heard, in sorrowful, low lamentation ; 



Till, having gathered them all, he flung them abroad in derision, 



As when, after a storm, a gust of wind through the tree tops 



Shakes down the rattling rain in a crystal shower on the branches." 



In the Southern States the Mockingbird is a constant resident. 

 Occasionally a pair come farther north to spend the summer, but as 

 soon as the young are able for the journey, they again retire to the 

 south. In the " Birds of Long Island," Mr. Giraud mentions it as 

 an occasional summer resident there, and speaks of a pair having 

 spent a summer near the beach at Egg Harbor. "The male," he 

 says, " became the pet of the residents, to whom it also seemed much 

 attached, and, as if in return for the attention they paid to his 

 wants, he poured forth his charming melody, which on calm, bright 

 nights, blending with the subdued voice of the ocean, rendered the 

 time enchanting beyond the powers of description." 



In Ontario, the Mockingbird is best known as a cage bird, 

 numbers being occasionally brought from the south in captivity, 

 and when exposed for sale are readily bought up by those who are 

 fond of feathered pets. Even in confinement it seems to retain all 



