THE MOCKINGBIRD. 



{Mimus polyglotios.) 



Then from a neighboring thicket the Mockingbird, wildest of singers, 

 Swinging aloft on a willow spray that hung o'er the water. 

 Shook from his little throat such floods of delirious music 

 That the whole air, and the woods, and the waves^ seemed silent to listen. 

 — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "Evangeline." 



Some one has said, "He who has not 

 heard the wild singing of the Mocking- 

 bird has missed one of the richest treats 

 that Nature has in her wonderfully rich 

 storehouse." He sings in the morning, 

 at midday, in the evening and often 

 through the night whenever the light of 

 the moon causes the darkness to wane. 

 ''Listen to him when the world is 

 hushed, when the air is heavy with the 

 rich fragrance of orange blossoms and 

 the dewy leaves glisten in the moonlight, 

 and if his song does not thrill you, then 

 confess yourself deaf to Nature's 

 voices." 



Many connoisseurs of bird songs have 

 declared that our Mockingbird is the 

 chief of the avian songsters of the world, 

 not even excepting the world renowned 

 nightingale. Dr. R. W. Shufeldt has 

 said: ''I believe, were he successfully 

 introduced into those countries where 

 the nightingale flourishes, that princely 

 performer might some day wince as he 

 was obliged to listen to his own most 

 powerful strains poured forth with all 

 their native purity by this king of feath- 

 ered mockers." But comparisons are 

 odious. Both the Mockingbird and the 

 nightingale are wonderful songsters and 

 the former is the chief of American song 

 birds. It is, however, as a mimic that 

 he has no equal. In this power he leads 

 all birds and has no peer. No bird notes 

 seem beyond his compass. He can per- 

 fectly imitate them all, from the screech 

 of the hawk to the soft and restful notes 

 of the wood thrush or the exquisitely 

 sweet song of the hermit thrush. But 

 this is not all that the Mockingbird can 

 do in the way of mimicry. He is also a 

 ventriloquist. Mr. Dawson in "The 

 Birds of Ohio" speaks of a most inter- 



esting captive specimen. This bird 

 would perfectly imitate the crowing of 

 a bantam rooster at a distance of about 

 two blocks. "Having always heard the 

 rooster at a distance, the Mocker repro- 

 duced the sound in exactly the same 

 way, with the ventriloquistic effort man- 

 ifestly resulting." This bird also repro- 

 duced the songs and cries of seventeen 

 common birds in the course of a quarter 

 of an hour, and Mr. Dawson says: "His 

 torrent of borrowed songs was contin- 

 ually changing like a kaleidoscope. I 

 timed him once, and the tune was 

 changed eighty-seven times in seven 

 minutes. Of these I was able to recog- 

 nize only fifty-eight as they flew — that 

 of the robin appearing twenty-two 

 times." While many Mockingbirds have 

 a wonderful power of mimicry and an 

 exceptional memory, there are many 

 others which sing no notes excepting 

 those of their own song. The very best 

 mockers are very far from common. 

 While many Mockingbirds may copy 

 perfectly the notes of the songs of other 

 birds, a few "impart an artistic inter- 

 pretative quality, which enables them 

 easily to surpass their models." 



The musical talent of the Mocking- 

 birds is by no means confined to mimicry 

 of other birds' songs. They have notes 

 of their own which are rich and varied. 

 They are rapidly delivered with much 

 sweetness and energy. They seem to 

 enjoy their own voices for their song is 

 accompanied by a sort of ecstatic move- 

 ment of the wings, tail and body. 



The Mockingbird is a favorite not 

 only because of his own beautiful song, 

 his powers of imitation, and his pretty 

 ways and elegant form, but also because 

 he loves the society of man and will 



