THE MOCKING BIRD. 



159 



He many times deceives the sportsman, and sends him in search of 

 birds that perhaps are not within miles of him, but whose notes he ex- 

 actly imitates ; even birds themselves are frequently imposed on by this 

 admirable mimic, and are decoyed by the fancied calls of their mates, 



or dive with precipitation into the depth of thickets, at a scream of what 

 they suppose to be the sparrow hawk. 



As may readily be imagined, the sounds imitated by these remarkable 

 birds vary according to the situation in which they live ; those that 

 occupy woodland districts naturally repeat the note uttered by their 



