20 
MOCKING-BIRD. 
dive, with precipitation, into the depth of thickets, at the scream of 
what they suppose to he 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 ; Csesar starts up, wags his tail, and runs to meet his master. lie 
squeaks out like a hurt chicken, and the hen hurries about with hang- 
ing wings, and bristled feathers, clucking to protect its injured brood. 
The barking of the dog, the mewing of the cat, the creaking of a pass- 
ing 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 
whistlings of the Virginia Nightingale, or Red-bird, with such superior 
execution and effect, that the mortified songsters feel their own inferior- 
ity, and become altogether silent ; Avhile he seems to triumph in their 
defeat by redoubling his exertions. 
This excessive fondness for variety, however, in the opinion of some, 
injures his song. His elevated imitations of the Brown Thrush are fre- 
quently interrupted by the crowing of cocks ; and the warblings of the 
Blue-bird, which he exquisitely manages, are mingled with the scream- 
ing of Swallows, or the cackling of Hens ; amidst the simple melody of 
the Robin we are suddenly surprised by the shrill reiterations of the 
"Whippoorwill ; while the notes of the Kildeer, Blue Jay, Martin, Balti- 
more, 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 
his tail, and throws himself around the cage in all the ecstasy of enthu- 
siasm, seeming not only to sing, but to dance, keeping time to the mea- 
sure of his own music. Both in his native and domesticated state, 
durino; the solemn stillness of night, as soon as the moon rises in silent 
majesty, he begins his delightful solo ; and serenades us the live-long 
night with a full display of his vocal powers, making the whole neigh- 
borhood ring with his inimitable medley.* 
* The hunters in the Southern States, when setting out upon an excursion by 
night, as soon as they hear the Mocking-bird begin to sing know that the moon is 
rising. 
A certain anonymous author, sj^eaking of the Mocking-birds in the island of 
Jamaica, and their practice of singing by moonlight, thus gravely philosophizes, 
and attempts to account for the habit. " It is not certain," says he, " whether they 
are kept so wakeful by the clearness of the light, or by any extraordinary attention 
and vigilance, at such times, for the protection of their nursery from the piratical 
assaults of the Owl and the Night Hawk. It is possible that fear may operate 
upon them, much in the same manner as it has been observed to affect some cow- 
ardly persons, who whistle stoutly in a lonesome place, while their mind is agitated 
with the terror of thieves or hobgoblins." Hist, of Jam. v. in., p. 894, quarto. 
