THE MOCKING BIRD. 



Mocking Bird. 



The Mocking Bird, or Polyglot Thrush, is a native of most parts of America. This wonderful bird stands 

 pre-eminent in power of song. Not only are its natural notes bold and spirited, but it has the faculty of 

 imitating with deceptive fidelity every sound it hears. To its flexible organs, the harsh setting of a saw, 

 the song of a nightingale, the creaking of a wheel, the whistled tune of a passer-by, the full and mellow 

 notes of the thrush, the barking of a dog, the crowing of a cock, and the savage scream of the bald 

 eagle, are each equally easy of execution, and follow one another with such marvellous rapidity that few 



can believe that the insignificant brown bird before them is the 

 sole author of these varied sounds. The Virginian Nightin- 

 gale and the Canary hear their exquisite modulations per- 

 formed with such superior execution, that the vanquished 

 songsters are silent from mere mortification, while the triumph- 

 ant Mocking Bird only redoubles his efforts. His expanded 

 wings and tail glistening with white, and the buoyant gaiety 

 of his action arresting the eye, as his song does most irre- 

 sistibly the ear, he sweeps round with enthusiastic ecstacy, 

 and mounts and descends as his song swells or dies away. He 

 often deceives the sportsman, and sends him in search of birds 

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

 exactly imitates ; even birds are frequently imposed upon by 

 this admirable mimic, and are decoyed by the fancied calls of 

 their mates, or dive into thickets at the scream nf what they 

 suppose to be the sparrow hawk. 



