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Bird Day Book 



MOCKINGBIRD 



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THE general colors of the mockingbird are gray and white; the 

 bases of the primaries and outer tail feathers are white. The 

 nest of these birds is variously situated, in small trees, brush heaps, 

 briers, etc. The nesting material consists of twigs, plant stems, 

 grasses, strings, strips of bark, feathers, and pieces of paper. The 

 eggs have a pale greenish blue ground-color, and are rather heavily 

 colored with reddish brown spots. Four is the number generally 

 laid in a nest. The one profession of the male in spring is singing, 

 and so completely does this engross his mind that to his mate is left 

 the entire responsibility of constructing their habitation and hatching 

 the eggs. The bird's appetite for fruit and berries in some com- 

 munities becomes at times so marked that many fruit growers com- 

 plain of their depredations, while others plant more fruit in order to 

 provide enough for both man and bird. 



The mockingbird is an insectivorous bird and is undoubtedly the 

 sweetest songster of the North American continent, its notes of 

 liquid melody eclipsing those of the world-famed nightingale. 



C^ C^ ^ 

 THE LESSON TAUGHT BY THE MOCKINGBIRD 



'HEN the shadows of the evening 

 Creep across the grassy wold 

 Blithely singing near my dwelling 

 Comes a saucy songster bold. 



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Gay and plaintive are the carols 

 That he sings in matchless strain 



And perforce my smile enkindles 

 For he sings my own refrains. 



List'ning to his mockings artless 

 Deeply is this lesson taught: 



By our every act an impress 

 On some other life is wrought. 

 — Lillian Finnellj Tuscaloosa, Ala. 



