THE MO('KlN<l-r>IRI>. 1(51 



ment for you which the bird forms by feeding from your hand is well shown in after- 

 years by his willingness to learn a tune or tricks from the one who has been so kind 

 to him. The young trapped birds are easily caught as "Boon as they are strong 

 enough to fly. 



The device of a lazy negro is, to lie under some shady orange-tree, sleeping, 

 with one eye open, with distended jaws, and having an imitation spider fastened on 

 a spring bound to one of his teeth. The Mocking-bird, which is very expert at 

 catching insects, darts at the prey, and is in turn caught in a trap. It takes long 

 practice to become perfect in this particular branch. Another way is, to place a 

 call-bird in a trap-cage. The Mocking-bird is the most pugnacious of all birds, 

 and this very vice makes him the easiest captive of all the feathered tribe. He is 

 ever on the alert for a fight, and will attack a much larger bird for the pure fun of 

 fighting, and comes off victorious through sheer dash and pluck. 



The young birds are sold in large numbers in the months of June, July, and 

 August. Savannah and New Orleans are the principal Southern depots to which 

 the birds are brought for shipment North. The negroes are usually the trappers, 

 and many obtain their living from trapping : their well-known love of robbery does 

 not confine itself to the narrow bounds of hen-roosts ; for they do not scruple to 

 steal back the very Mocking-birds which they have sold, if the chance is given 

 them. The next morning they sell the stolen property again for new-trapped birds, 

 with a little huckleberry juice rubbed on the white of the wing ; for the reddish 

 mark, they say, is a sure indication of the male bird. 



The large number of birds caught makes the price reasonable enough to be 

 within the reach of every one. If the Mocking-bird is judged according to his 

 real merit, he would, undoubtedly, be the costliest of birds. 



He commences to sing at the age of seven or eight weeks ; the first notes are 

 low and unfinished ; but, as he grows older, his voice increases in volume and com- 

 pass ; and his aptitude for learning is greatly developed. His natural song is sweet, 

 bold, varied ; and, in his native woods, he surpasses every competitor. He is the 

 great artist : the other songsters of the grove are only the chorus. During the 

 utterance of his song he appears to be in a perfect ecstasy of delight : his constant, 

 graceful motion, expanded wings and tail, and flashing eye, add to the music a 

 vivacity and elegance of rendering given only by this wonderful bird. His notes 

 are sweeter in his wild state than in captivity, owing to absence of harsh noises, 

 which he so often hears when confined in the habitations of man. He loses none 

 of his power or energy of song in confinement, and his opportunities for mimicking 

 are much enhanced by the variety of the new sounds which he constantly hears. 

 He improves every chance offered him, and takes as much delight in imitating a 

 buzz-saw or rusty pump as he does in imitating the sweetest of flute-notes. His 

 repertoire is unlimited : he will repeat any thing, from a snatch of the latest grand 

 opera to the infinitesimal twitter of the Humming-bird. He sings the songs "of 

 other cage-birds with a superiority altogether mortifying to them ; his clucks often- 

 times can make the lost chicken forget its mother ; and, so exact are the meows of 

 rage, he compels the Thomas cat to imagine somebody has trod on his tail. 



A German gentleman, followed by his pet poodle, was very much annoj'ed 

 while hurrying along the street at hearing the whistle given which is so commonly 



