192 Bird - Lore 



time and began incubating on July 7, another proof of how perfectly the 

 environment of the birds is suited to their habits. 



When in the mornings, the old monarch of the flock struts back and 

 forth on the fallen tree near the entrance of the enclosure, pompously 

 swelling out his breast, and with trailing wings utters his mellow, "gobble- 

 gobble- gobble," he makes a beautiful picture, the sun reflecting iridescent 

 hues from each copper- and bronze-tinted feather. No ordinary barnyard 

 Thanksgiving reminder, this, but a true native of American forests, who 

 with wolves and panthers has been driven or exterminated from all except 

 the more inaccessible corners of the country. May his descendants increase 

 and live long to enjoy the security and admiration which their quarters in 

 the New York Zoological Park assures them. 



Mockingbird Notes 



BY MRS. LUCY GOULD BALDWIN 



Illustrated by A. Radclvffe DugmOre 



A PAIR of Mockingbirds passed last winter in my flower garden, at 

 Baldwin, Louisiana. They were fed daily on the porch and be- 

 came so tame that they would pick up crumbs when we were only 

 a few feet from them. 



Earlier than usual, as the weather was warm and pleasant, they began 

 preparations for housekeeping. A low trellis with a tangle of vines was 

 chosen as the site of their loosely constructed nest of sticks lined with hair,' 

 and on March 25 it contained four eggs. April 5 three of the eggs had 

 hatched, the remaining one proving unfertile, and ten days later the three 

 young birds left the nest. 



About May i we missed the female, and the male alone fed the fledg- 

 lings. However, he frequently pecked them and soon drove them viciously 

 out of the garden. 



May 5 the same nest contained five eggs, which were evidently the prop- 

 erty of the birds that had already raised one brood in it, and on May 17 

 four of the eggs hatched, the period of incubation, therefore, being about 

 twelve days. On May 29, or, when 12 days old, two of the young left the 

 nest, having been in it two days longer than the first brood. One of the 

 four fell a victim to some enemy in the early morning. 



On June 7 and 8 the female was seen occasionally, but was indifferent 

 to her young, who were fed by the male early and late. On June 10 and 11 

 these observations were repeated. By the i6th they required less active care 

 and on the 19th came to pick up crumbs from the 'side-board' we had 

 placed on the piazza for the old birds. June 20 the young disappeared and 

 the old birds were seen carrying sticks and Spanish ' moss ' into a ' sweet 



