Mbere tbe /lDocftfng»bfrb Sings 



Every spring, for many years, I have 

 studied the mocking-bird in his favorite 

 haunts, and have been upon most intimate 

 terms with his household. The resident 

 bird is so tame that his habits are as open 

 to inspection as are those of any domestic 

 fowl ; but quite the contrary is true of the 

 migrant, whose nature seems never to 

 have lost a line of its wildness. Dr. Elliott 

 Coues, in his excellent work, " Key to 

 North American Birds," remarks that the 

 mocking-bird's power of song may be 

 greatly improved by training when in 

 captivity. This is contrary to my ob- 

 servation. The migrant, which is the only 

 genuine moqueur sauvage, has a voice in- 

 comparably more brilliant and powerful 

 than is ever sent forth from a cage, and 

 there is a great difference between the 

 singing of a free resident bird and that of 

 one reared in captivity — so great, indeed, 

 that I can readily distinguish the superior 

 purity and sweetness of the former, even at 

 a long distance, when both birds are hidden 

 from me. In the region of Bay St. Louis, 

 Mississippi, the cots and cabins of the 

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