THE MOCKING BIRD. 157 



musical cadence, which rose and fell with the fluctuation of the breeze, 

 like the magic harp of ^Eolus. 



Their depredations on the maize crop or Indian e>ni commence 

 almost with the planting. The infant blades no sooner appear than 

 ,hey are hailed by the greedy Blackbird as the signal for a feast; 

 and, without hesitation, they descend on the fields, and regale them- 

 selves with the sweet and sprouted seed, rejecting and scattering the 

 blades around as an evidence of their mischief and audacity. Again, 

 about the beginning of August, while the grain is in the milky state, 

 their attaeks are renewed with the most destructive effect, as they 

 now assemble as it were in clouds, and pillage the fields to sueh a 

 decree that in some low and sheltered situations, in the vicinity of 

 rivers, where they delight to roam, one fourth of the crop is devoured 

 by these vexatious visitors. The gun, also, notwithstanding the havoc 

 it produces, has little more effect than to chase them from one part 

 of the field to the other. In the Southern States, in winter, they 

 hover round the corn-cribs in swarms, and boldly peck the hard 

 grain from the cob through the air openings of the magazine. In 

 consequence of these reiterated depredations they are detested by 

 the farmer as a pest to his industry; though, on their arrival their 

 food for a long time consists wholly of those insects which are calcu- 

 lated to do the most essential injury to the crops. 



THE MOCKING BIRD, OR MIMIC THRUSH. 



This bird is about the size of a Blackbird, but, in its general form, 

 is somewhat more slender. Its plumage is 

 gray, paler on the under parts of the body 

 than above. 



This capricious little mimic is common 

 throughout nearly the whole of North Amer- 

 ica, as well as in several of the West Indian 

 Islands. It cannot, indeed, vie with tlie 

 feathered inhabitants of those countries in 

 brilliancy of plumage ; but it is contented 

 with much more rare and estimable qualifica- MOCKING BIRD. 



tions. It possesses not only natural notes of 



its own, which are truly musical and solemn ; but it can at pleasure 

 assume the tone of every other animal in the forest, from the Humming- 

 bird to the Eagle, and descending even to the Wolf or the Raven. 

 One of them, confined in a cage, has been heard to mimic the mewing 

 <?f a Cat, the chattering of a Magpie, and the creaking of the hinges o? 

 a sign -post in high winds. 



The Mocking Bird seems to have a pleasure in leading other birds 

 astray. He is said at one time to allure the smaller birds with the 

 call of their mates ; and when they come near, to terrify them with the 

 scream of an Eagle. There is scarcely a bird of the forest that is not 

 at times deceived by his call. 



But he is not like the mimics among mankind, who seldom possess 



