BIRDS IN A VILLAGE 83 



to it thereafter, although the song may increase in 

 power and brilliance when the bird comes to full 

 maturity* This, I think, holds true of all birds, like 

 the nightingale, which have a singing period of two 

 or three months and are songless for the rest of the 

 year. That long silent period cannot, so far as sounds 

 go, be a receptive one ; the song early in life has 

 become crystallised in the form it will keep through 

 life and is like an instinctive act. This is not the case 

 with birds like the starling that sing all the year 

 round birds that are naturally loquacious and sing 

 instead of screaming and chirping like others. They 

 are always borrowing new sounds and always 

 forgetting. 



The most curious example of mimicry I have yet 

 met with is that of a true mocking-bird, Mimus 

 patachonicus, a common resident species in northern 

 Patagonia, on the Atlantic side, very abundant in 

 places. He is a true mocking-bird because he belongs 

 to the genus Mimus, a branch of the thrush family, 

 and not because he mocks or mimics the songs of 

 other species like others of his kindred. He does 

 not, in fact, mimic the set songs of others, although 

 he often introduces notes and phrases borrowed from 

 other species into his own performance. He sings 

 in a sketchy way all the year round, but in spring 

 has a fuller, unbroken song, emitted with more power 

 and passion. For the rest of the time he sings to 



