MOCKING BIRD. 1 ^g 



miles of him, but whose notes he exactly imitates : even 

 birds themselves are frequently imposed on by this admir- 

 able mimic, and are decoyed by the fancied calls of their 

 mates, or dive with precipitation into the depth of thickets, 

 at the scream of what they suppose to be the sparrow 

 hawk. 



The mocking bird loses little of the power and energy of 

 his song by confinement. In his domesticated state, when he 

 commences his career of song, it is impossible to stand by 

 uninterested. He whistles for the dog, — Cassar starts up, 

 wags his tail, and runs to meet his master. He squeaks out 

 like a hurt chicken, — and the hen hurries about w r ith hanging 

 wings, and bristled feathers, clucking to protect its injured 

 brood. The barking of the dog, the mewing of the cat, the 

 creaking of a passing wheelbarrow, follow with great truth 

 and rapidity. He repeats the tune taught him by his master, 

 though of considerable length, fully and faithfully. He 

 runs over the quiverings of the canary, and the clear whist- 

 lings of the Virginia nightingale, or red bird, with such 

 superior execution and effect, that the mortified songsters 

 feel their own inferiority, and become altogether silent ; while 

 he seems to triumph in their defeat by redoubling his exer- 

 tions. 



This excessive fondness for variety, however, in the opinion 

 of some, injures his song. His elevated imitations of the 

 brown thrush are frequently interrupted by the crowing of 

 cocks ; and the warblings of the blue bird, which he ex- 

 quisitely manages, are mingled with the screaming of swallows 

 or the cackling of hens ; amidst the simple melody of the 

 robin, we are suddenly surprised by the shrill reiterations of 

 the whip-poor-will ; while the notes of the killdeer, blue jay, 

 martin, baltimore, and twenty others, succeed, with such 

 imposing reality, that we look round for the originals, and 

 discover, with astonishment, that the sole performer in this 

 singular concert is the admirable bird now before us. During 

 this exhibition of his powers, he spreads his wings, expands 



