THE SPARROW KIND. 263 



beautiful tints that adorn the foreign birds of the 

 h rush kind. The brilliant green of the emerald, 

 the flaming red of the ruby, the purple of the 

 amethyst, or the bright blue of the sapphire, 

 could not, by the most artful combination, show 

 any thing so truly lively or delightful to the 

 sight as the feathers of the Chilcoqui or the Tau- 

 totol. Passing, therefore, over these beautiful, 

 but little known birds, I will only mention the 

 American Mock-bird, the favourite songster of a 

 region where the birds excel rather in the beauty 

 of their plumage than the sweetness of their 

 notes. 



This valuable bird does not seem to vie with 

 the feathered inhabitants of that country in the 

 beauty of its plumage, content with qualifications 

 that endear it to mankind much more. It is but 

 a plain bird to the eye, about the size of a thrush, 

 of a white and grey colour, and a reddish bill. 

 It is possessed not only of its own natural notes, 

 which are musical and solemn, but it can assume 

 the tone of every other animal in the wood, from 

 the wolf to the raven. It seems even to sport 

 itself in leading them astray. It will at one time 

 allure the lesser birds with the call of their males, 

 and then terrify them when they have come near 

 with the screams of the eagle. There is no bird 

 in the forest but it can mimic, and there is none 

 that it has not at times deceived by its call. But 

 not like such as we usually see tamed for mimick- 

 ing with us, and who have no particular merit of 

 their own, the mock-bird is ever surest to please 

 when it is most itself. At those times it usually 



