354 NATURAL HISTORY READER. 



anccs. She was gamboling in the largo compartment of 

 her cage, in intense animal enjoyment. She had just woke 

 from a long sleep, and had eaten of some favorite food, 

 when she burst into a fullness of song very rich in its variety. 

 While running and jumping, she caroled off what I have 

 called her grand rule ; then, sitting, she went over it again, 

 ringing out the strangest diversity of changes, by an almost 

 whimsical transposition of the bars of the melody ; then, 

 without, for even an instant, stopping the music, she leaped 

 into the wheel, sent it revolving at its highest speed, and, 

 while thus running in the wheel, she went through the 

 wheel-song in exquisite style, giving several repetitions of 

 it. After this, without at all arresting the singing, she 

 returned to the large compartment, sat upright, resumed 

 again the grand role, and put into it some variations which 

 astonished me. 



G. One measure, I remember, was so silvery and soft 

 that I said to a lady who was listening, that a canary able 

 to execute that strain would be almost beyond price. I 

 occasionally detected, what I am utterly unable to explain, 

 a literal dual sound, a sort of rollicking chuckling, very 

 like a boy whistling as he runs, and drawing a stick along 

 the pickets of a fence. So the music went on, as I listened, 

 watch in hand, until actually nine minutes had elapsed. 

 Now, the wonderful fact is, that the rest between the roles 

 was never much more than a second of time ; and during 

 all this singing the muscles could be seen in vigorous 

 action through the entire length of the abdomen. This 

 feat would be impossible to a professional singer; and the 

 nearest to it that I have heard was the singing of the wild 

 mocking-bird in a grove. r ,„„ r. , , , T , , 



o & Jtev. banned Lvckwood. 



