128 



WANDERINGS IN 



Second statioii Oil a ti'ce closG to liis hoiise ; and there, for hours 



Journey. 



together, pours forth a succession of unitative notes. 



His own song is sweet, but very short. If a Toucan be 

 yelping in the neighbourhood, he drops it, and imitates 

 him. Then he will amuse his protector with the cries of 

 the different species of the woodpecker ; and when the 

 sheep bleat, he will distinctly answer them. Then comes 

 his own song again, and if a puppy dog, or a Guinea fowl 

 interrupt him, he takes them off admirably, and by his 

 different gestures during the time, you would conclude 

 that he enjoys the sport. 



The Cassique is gregarious, and imitates any sou7id he 

 hears with such exactness, that he goes by no other name 

 than that of Mocking bird amongst the colonists. 



At breeding time, a number of these pretty choristers 

 resort to a tree near the planter's house, and from its 

 outside branches weave their pendulous nests. So con- 

 scious do they seem that they never give offence, and so 

 little suspicious are they of receiving any injury from man, 

 that they Avill choose a tree within forty yards from his 

 house, and occupy the branches so low down, that he 

 may peep into the nests. A tree in Waratilla Creek 

 affords a proof of this. 



The proportions of the Cassique are so fine, that he 

 may be said to be a model of symmetry in ornithology. 

 On each wing he has a bright yellow spot, and his rump, 

 belly, and half the tail, are of the same colour. All the 



