NATURE LEAVES 
is a series of disjointed quirks and calls, quite sur- 
prising as vocal feats, but, to my ear, entirely desti- 
tute of real bird melody. It is a performance, the 
tricks of a vocal acrobat, and not in any sense a 
serious, unified song. The bird has much less music 
in its soul, less of the spirit of self-forgetting joy and 
praise, than has our little song sparrow. I would 
rather have one robin, or one song sparrow, about 
my place than any number of “mockers.” Indeed, 
the more “mockers” there were, the less welcome 
they would be. It is a polyglot, but not a songster. 
The mockingbird is a theatrical creature, both in 
manners and delivery. I have heard it in Jamaica, 
in Florida, and now in southern California, and I 
have heard it by night and by day, and I have no 
good word to say for it. It is a Southern bird and 
has more the quality of the Southern races than our 
birds have. Northern birds are quieter, sweeter- 
tempered, softer-voiced, and more religious in tone. 
IV. ARE THERE COUNTERFEITS IN NATURE? 
One day my son killed a duck on the river that an 
old gunner told him was a mock duck. It looked 
like a duck, it acted and quacked like a duck, but 
when it came upon the table it mocked us. I now 
recall that it was a “coot,” a species of duck not 
usually eaten. 
The incident led me to thinking whether or not 
there were really any mock things — any counter- 
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