46 MOCKINGBIRD. 
long and distinét as that found by Beckler in the voice of the Australian Magpie, can 
not be made out; but it surpasses all of Beckler’s notes in variety of diatonic series. 
As to the Nightingales and Song Thrushes some of their notes are approximately or 
quite euphonious; but they all move in a limited range of melodies, they do not articu- 
late the notes in repetition, but rather slur them over portamenta di voce, and thereby 
obscure the musical composition to such a degree that one can scarcely speak of the 
performance of real melodies. This particular Mockingbird, on the other hand, sings in 
pure intervals of thirds, sixths and fifths, everywhere metallic and soft, exhibiting such 
rapidity of change in the passages from one clause to another, from brilliant acuteness 
to liquid complaint, that one is really filled with wonder at such talent.” 
In concluding my remarks on the song of this bird I will quote the following from 
a letter of one of our prominent American ornithologists, Mr. Otto Widmann, of St. Louis: 
“TI cannot, from my personal experience, assert that all Mockingbirds are good 
singers. Among caged birds I have heard more poor than good songsters. Disregarding 
differences in individual endowment, the poor singing seemed to me to be explained by 
such birds having lacked the opportunity of hearing good songs. The Mockingbird 
is and will ever be an imitator. If it hears good singing, it mimicks good singing; 
if it hears little or nothing good, its song becomes poor and monotonous. Most 
Mockingbirds taken as nestlings and reared in the city are poor songsters. How 
could it be otherwise? The Berlin songster that had heard the Nightingales, Song 
Thrushes, &c., attained its world-famous perfection by being in fine company, and the 
good singers among the wild birds have acquired their rich and varied repertoire 
through companionship with other birds.—There is no doubt that the Mockingbird’s 
song cannot be compared with the glorious warble of the Nightingale. The Nightingale’s 
melody ranks high above all bird-songs I have ever heard, and I have learned to esteem 
the Mockingbird’s song only since I have made the acquaintance of the birds whose 
voices it imitates. Out of doors I love to hear it, and have often stood for five or ten 
minutes to listen to it attentively, but I can feel nothing but cool admiration for its 
really wonderful power of imitation. The voice of the Nightingale, on the other hand, 
thrilling as it does with a peculiar charm, has worked mightily on my deepest feelings, 
has so fascinated and inspired me that I shall never forget it. I confess that I owe to 
it a feeling of homesickness.” — 
The Mockingbird never chooses its home in the deep interior of the woods, but 
prefers the bushy margins of forests, the prairie thickets, and swamps bordered with 
bushes. Our beautiful plate, made from a water-color painting by Prof. A. Goering, 
presents a scene in south-western Texas, a region where yuccas and different species 
of cacti predominate, and where also the Mockingbird is abundant. It especially 
loves to settle in gardens and orchards, and in distri¢ts where woods are relieved by 
fields. I observed the greatest number of pairs nesting about a mile south of Houston, 
in a somewhat low-lying locality. This piece of woods and thicket-covered land border- 
ing on a prairie, is largely covered with groups of swamp and white-oaks, water- 
tupelos, and elms. In other spots the beautiful foliaged pyramidal sweet-gum trees 
combine to form large clusters. Here and there a solitary long-leaved pine raises its 
head high into the air. Some of the finest trees are overgrown with mustang-grapes 
