14 



MOCKING-BIRD 



birds, occasionally, from Fredericksburg in Virginia, to the southern 

 parts of Georgia; becoming still more numerous the farther I ad- 

 vanced to the south. The berries of the red cedar, myrtle, holly, 

 Cassine shrub, many species of smilax, together with gum berries, 

 gall berries, and a profusion of others with which the luxuriant 

 swampy thickets of those regions abound, furnish them with a per- 

 petual feast. Winged insects, also, of which they are very fond, 

 and remarkably expert at catching, abound there even in winter, 

 and are an additional inducement to residency. Tho rather a shy 

 bird in the northern states, here he appeared almost half domesti- 

 cated, feeding on the cedars and among the thickets of smilax that 

 lined the roads while I passed within a few feet ; playing around 

 the plantei-'s door, and hopping along the shingles. During the 

 month of February I sometimes heard a solitary one singing; but 

 on the second of March, in the neighbourhood of Savannah, num- 

 bers of them were heard on every hand, vying in song with each 

 other, and with the Brown Thrush, making the whole woods vocal 

 with their melody. Spring was at that time considerably advanced ; 

 and the thermometer ranging between 70 and 78 degrees. On ar- 

 riving at New York, on the twenty-second of the same month, I 

 found many parts of the country still covered with snow, and the 

 streets piled with ice to the height of two feet; while neither the 

 Brown Thrush, nor Mocking-bird were observed, even in the lower 

 parts of Pennsylvania, until the 20th of April. 



The precise time at which the Mocking-bird begins to build 

 his nest varies according to the latitude in which he resides. In 

 the lower parts of Georgia he commences building early in April; 

 but in Pennsylvania rarely before the tenth of May; and in New 

 York, and the states of New England, still later. There are par- 

 ticular situations to which he gives the preference. A solitary 

 thorn bush; an almost impenetrable thicket; an orange tree, ce- 

 dar, or holly -bush, are favorite spots, and frequently selected. It 

 is no great objection with him that these happen, sometimes, to 



