MOCKING BIRD 



115 



viduals of the species are accomplished imita- 

 tors; .probably this faculty increases with prac- 

 tice as the bird grows older. Moreover, did he 

 never sing a note he would still be a delightful 

 and valuable neighbor, helpful in our war against 

 cutworms and kindred pests, and fascinatingly 

 original in his behavior. 



The Latin name is scarcely more fortunate — 

 Mimus Polygiottos, which means the Many- 



MOCKING BIRD 



Length 10^ inches 



tongued Mimic. This troubadour of a thousand 

 springs ought fitly to have a name from some 

 musical and romantic language like the Spanish. 

 But no matter! Once hearing him, and reading 

 Sidney Lanier's tribute or Walt Whitman's 

 "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Bocking," one 

 inevitably inclines to ask what's in a name. 



He is quite lordly in his bearing toward other 

 singers, permitting none of them to be heard in 



