TKIlbere tbe /lDocftfng=ljfr5 Sings 



The land of the mocking-bird is a coun- 

 try where for ages the savages were not 

 too savage to love fruit and corn and suc- 

 culent vegetables, and to revel in banquet- 

 ing. The wild men knew where the soil 

 was most fertile, and their imagination led 

 them to beautify many a spot until it was 

 like an earthly paradise. We are told by 

 the old explorers and by subsequent his- 

 tory that some of the Indian farms were 

 charming garden-spots. One chief gave 

 his estate the name White Apple on 

 account of the snowy blooms of his fruit- 

 trees. Such places were Edens wherein 

 our bird was tempted of the devil, and 

 fell. The serpent's name was laziness and 

 unnatural food. 



The Southern Indian loved the mocking- 

 bird, and imagined that he paid his sweet- 

 hea,rt the most delicate compliment when 

 he compared her to it. I do not know 

 what the original name of our singer was ; 

 but I do know that ingenuity could hardly 

 invent an uglier one than mocking-bird. 

 The Creole name, moqueur, meaning what 

 ours does, is far more musical. In the 

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