OF NORTH CAROLINA. 235 



fruit ; especlall}^ the apples. He opens the cov- 

 ering of the young corn, so that the rain gets in 

 and rots it. 



The fourth sort of these woodpeckers, is a black 

 and white speckled or mottled — the finest I ever 

 saw. The cock has a red crown ; he is not near 

 so big as the others ;^ his food is grubs, corn, and 

 other creeping insects. He is not very wild, but 

 will let one come up to him, then shifts on the 

 other side the tree from your sight ; and so dodges 

 you for a long time together. He is about the 

 size of an Englisli lark. 



The mocking bird is about as big as a thros» 

 tie in England, but longer ; they are of a white 

 and gray color, and are held to be the choristers 

 of America, as indeed they are. They sing with 

 the greatest diversity of notes that is possible for 

 a bird to change to. They may be bred up, and 

 will sing with us tame in cages ; yet I never take 

 any of their nests, although they build yearly in 

 my fruit trees, because I have their company as 

 much as if tame, as to the singing part. They 

 often sit upon our chimneys in summer, there be- 

 ing then no fire in them, and sing the whole eve- 

 ning and most part of the night. • They are al- 

 ways attending our dwellings, and feed upon mul- 

 berries and other berries and fruits, especially 

 the mechoacan berry, which grows here very plen- 

 tifully. 



There is another sort called the ground mock- 

 ing bird. She is the same bigness and of a cinna- 



