THE MOCKINGBIRD Q77 
ments, hopping and darting about, up, down and sidewise. If 
the Mocker feels well, he sings as he darts about, as jerkily 
and impulsively as he moves. 
The Mockingbird loves to sing almost as well as some 
persons love to hear him. His typical song is a bewildering 
CATBIRD. 
medley of warbling, chirping and twittering, many passages 
being very clever imitations of other birds, but the majority 
of it is improvised for the occasion. Next to the marvellous 
variety of his vocal exercises are the clearness and sweetness 
of his notes; for this singer never sharps or flats. The 
amount and variety of the melody that come from that in- 
significant little gray midget in feathers are truly marvellous. 
Every person who has heard the free, wild bird performing in 
its home thicket knows that the singing of caged specimens is 
but a spiritless imitation of the wild song. 
