THE IMITATIVE FACULTY 283 



lower grade of " syrinx," as this vocal organ is 

 called, the Lyre-bird {Menura) of Australia, the 

 voice is very flexible and the bird is a splendid 

 mocker even when wild, and has been known when 

 brought up tame even to imitate human speech. 



In the groups with the greatest perfection of 

 vocal organs great imitative faculty is common, 

 as we see in the case of the Starling and Jay, both 

 of them well known as talkers when tamed, and 

 given to imitating various sounds — ^generally 

 cries of other birds — ^when wild. The Crows and 

 Starlings generally are the chief talkers and mockers, 

 and exercise the latter faculty even in the wild 

 state. Many people must have heard the Starling's 

 imitations delivered from a chimney-pot, and the 

 African White-necked Crow (Corvus scapulatus) 

 has been known to amuse himself by imitating a 

 Bustard's call, to the great discomfiture of the 

 pursuing sportsman. The abilities of our Sedge- 

 Warbler and of the American Mocking-bird (Mimus 

 ofpheus) are also well known, and so are those of 

 the New Zealand Tui or Parson-bird {Prosthemadera 

 noves-zealandics), one of the honey-eaters. 



In fact, in every country with a reasonably varied 

 bird-population there is sure to be some species 

 with the mocking faculty, exercised apparently 

 purely for the pleasure it gives as a rule. Audubon, 

 however, credits the Northern Shrike {Lanius 

 borealis) with beguiling small birds within its reach 

 by imitating the cries of a bird in distress, and 

 Dame Juliana Berners, in the Middle Ages, strongly 



