THE MOCKING-BIKD 



187 



HOUSE-WREN. 



iike the plaintive mew of a half-grown kitten. 

 Its prevailing color is dark, slaty gray. 



The Mocking-Bird,i of the states south of 

 the Ohio River, is a singing wonder. It is a 

 little bundle of nerves, covered with modest drab 

 feathers, and its throat is tuned up to concert 

 pitch. When it is silent, it can be recognized 

 by its slender body, long legs and long tail; but 

 when it is singing, only a deaf man needs an in- 

 troduction. This bird can also be recognized 

 by its nervous and irregular movements, 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 Mocking-Bird loves to sing almost as well 

 as some persons love to hear him. His ty]3ical 

 song is a bewildering medley of warbling, chirj)- 

 ing and twittering, many passages being very 

 clever imitations of other birds, but the majority 

 of it is improvised for the occasion. Next to 

 ' Mi'mus pol-y-glot' tos . Length, about 10 inches. 



the marvellous variety of his vocal exercises is 

 the clearness and sweetness of his notes; for this 

 singer never sharps nor flats. The amount and 

 variety of the melody that comes 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. 



Strange to say, this bird not only sings in the 

 daytime, but there are periods, especially during 

 the breeding season, when the male sings at 

 night. 



As usual, man's destructiveness reaches out for 

 this the greatest of all American singers Thou- 

 sands of nestlings are caged, the majoritj' of them 

 in Louisiana. Those that do not die in the proc- 

 ess of rearing, hve for brief periods in wretched 

 little 12 by 14-inch cages, and die without having 

 known one happy, joyous hour. It is reported 

 that in most portions of the South, the ilocking- 

 Birds are rapidly decreasing in number, espe- 

 cially in Arkansas. The killing of a bird of this 

 species, on any pretext, should be made a penal 

 offence. 



THE DIPPER FAMILY. 

 CincUdae. 



The Water-Ouzel, or Dipper,- is one of the 

 most remarka1)lo little birds on this continent. 



C.W'-BIHD. 



It is a genuine water-elf, and the things it can 



do are almost beyond belief. I first saw it in late 



^ Cin'dus mex-i-cayi'un. Length, about 8 inches. 



