AMERICAN Oi:XITJIOLO(n\ 339 



threshold. Not meeting with any opposition he skipped boldly in and 

 perched on the lower round of a rocking- chair. He seemed to be 

 listening with fixed attention. This performance was repeated for 

 several mornings,, until all at once he essayed a bit of song himself. 

 His maiden efforts were so ludicious that I could but pause to laugh, 

 when he immediately stopped and nothing would induce him to begin 

 again, though later in the day I heard him trying to imitate sounds 

 made by neighboring chickens. Every day he practiced with me, and 

 if he felt quite jubilant, he would warble or whistle when he thought 

 himself unobserved. He had his favorites among songs, — James 

 Hogg's "Skylark," a song in which the Lark's notes are imitated, 

 "Come Let Us Sing'' (from Mendelssohn's 95th Psalm,) Rubinstein's 

 "Voices of the Woods," "Bonnie Laddie." Patriotic songs filled him 

 with inspiration. He was a thorough believer in the union of the blue 

 and the gray, "Dixie" being no less exhilarating to him than the "Star 

 Spangled Banner," the Cuban National Hymn, or "Marching Through 

 Georgia." He always listened to a new piece before attempting to join 

 in. Now, two months after his adoption he sings most exquisitly, not 

 any of the tunes that he hears, but little ones that he improvises. 



J-J is a creature of moods. Nothing will induce him to sing unless 

 the spirit moves. His musical fancies are most curious. Sometimes 

 in the midst of a soft, low, whistling song he will break into a wild, 

 harsh cry which does not seem in the least to mar the effect in him, 

 though to us it is as if an angel melody became suddenly a brigand 

 scream. What change of mood accounts for it we can never conceive. 

 Nothing external occurs to explain the transition. If he notices any- 

 one watching him he immediately hushes his song, but if one can peep 

 at him unobserved he will be hugely entertained by the airs and graces 

 which are equal to those of the most popular prima donna before the 

 footlights. 



He often converses with me, using now the low eck eck sound, and 

 when he does not wish to jump upon my hand and be transported to 

 some different place, a little protesting noise which says as plainly as 

 words "No, no — I won't, I won't." If I give him a choice tidbit such 

 as a daddy-long-leggs or a fat cricket, he never fails to express his 

 satisfaction and thanks in a form of speech which he reserves for that 

 purpose. If. he is out of sight and I call, he answers with a soft "jay" 

 (here am I.) 



He is inspired to express his feelings in song by many different 

 sounds — running water, the wind in the trees, a thunder storm, the 

 humming of the sewing machine, upon which he delights to sit when it 

 is in use. In his intervals of song he amuses himself by trying his 



