404 



THE MANAKIN'S SONG. 



Pipra Musica.— {Linn.) 



I would sing with much pleasure, but oh! its so shocking, 



The instant I open my bill and begin, 

 That insolent bird, which some call, I think, mocking, 



Repeats all my notes in unmannerly din. 



Already you hear him ! I can't go on singing : 

 You, I know, will excuse me : indeed I'm unwell. 



Whoe'er can endure, for a moment, such ringing 

 Of changes ? — his voice is just like a crack'd bell. 



Alas ! he'll not suffer me even to utter 



A word of complaint ! I beseech you to hear : 



Be my notes high or low, or a warble, a mutter, 

 Be they loud, be they soft, be they distant or near, 



What then is this mockery ? weapon of witlings, 

 To whom wisdom and truth are both often un- 

 known ? 

 Who, in order to shine like some little Tomtitlings, 

 Sport the bright thoughts of others, and call them 

 their own. ( 64 ) 



( 64 ) Order, Passeres, (Linn.) Manakin, the Tuneful, 

 the Rock. 



The genus Pipra, (Linn.) or Manakin, comprehends more 

 than forty species, inhabitants of the warm climates of Asia, 

 Africa, and America; they have the bill shorter than the head, 

 strong, hard, nearly triangular at the base, and slightly incurved 



