210 THE HUMAN SIDE OF BIRDS 



youngsters hopped forth from the rusty instrument 

 to greet the world. 



The term "mimicry" is misleading in so far as it 

 conveys the idea of conscious imitation, especially 

 as regards colouration, which is supplied the birds 

 by the bountiful hand of Nature. In voice imita- 

 tions there is more self-direction. Perhaps the 

 American mocking-bird is the most perfect vocal 

 mimic among all the bird family. Its marvellous 

 powers are such that the Mexican aborigines called 

 it centcontlatlolU — four hundred tongues or 

 languages. 



In my New York studio-laboratory I have two 

 tame mocking-birds, whom I call David and Jona- 

 than. I have raised them from tiny babies in the 

 nest. David has learned Dvorak's Humoresque 

 from a Victrola record, and Jonathan sings parts 

 of several simple pieces. They have never been 

 away from the man-city and so have not learned the 

 calls of the wildwood birds; but many sounds which 

 they have heard repeatedly they can produce with 

 such perfection that the most skilled ear is often 

 deceived. 



These remarkable birds imitate the human voice, 

 though not so well as the cries and calls of birds, the 

 barking of dogs, the noise of the elevator, the ring 

 of the telephone, the flow of water, the scales on the 



