FLORIDA AND THE WEST INDIES 165 



The alligator lays as many as two or three hundred 

 eggs far up country on the banks of freshwater 

 creeks, carefully covering them with leaves and 

 litter in so elaborate a manner as at once to betray 

 them to the eye of the practised hunter. Curiously 

 enough for creatures of such divergent habits, the 

 two are natural and hereditary enemies, and when 

 they meet the crocodile generally defeats his rival. 



Of the land-birds of the Keys, the chief are the 

 mocking-bird, whip-poor-will, quail, herons and 

 egrets. The mocking-bird (Mimus polyglottus) is to 

 my way of thinking a poorer mimic than his name 

 suggests, though it may be that, had I heard him in 

 States that afford his powers more practice than 

 the silent land of fish and flowers, I might have 

 formed another opinion. The original music of the 

 mocking-bird is of the sweetest, and his personality, 

 his pert and winning antics, would alone make him 

 a favourite ; but his " mocking " powers are, from 

 what I heard, restricted to taking up the challenge 

 if anyone imitates any of the passages from an 

 almost endless repertoire. Back comes the cry, 

 clear and defiant, and the human whistler usually 

 tires of the duet first. This, however, is hardly 

 mimicry, since the bird is but repeating its own 

 song. I have heard it carol against the quail and 

 cardinal close to my hammock at Useppa, but 

 always its own song and never any attempt to 

 imitate theirs. Our homely starling at home, 

 without half the reputation, is twice the mimic. 



Writing of mimicry reminds me that the 

 imitative powers of rustics, who occasionally call up 

 duck and other fowl, are very much exaggerated, 



