THE MOCKING-BIRD 
187 
HOUSE-WREN. 
like the plaintive mew of a half-grown kitten. 
Its prevailing color is dark, slaty gray. 
The Mocking-Bird , 1 of the states south of 
the Ohio River, is a singing wonder. It is a 
little bundle of nerves, covered with modest drab 
feathers, and its throat is tuned up to concert 
pitch. When it is silent, it can be recognized 
by its slender body, long legs and long tail ; but 
when it is singing, only a deaf man needs an in- 
troduction. This bird can also be recognized 
by its nervous and irregular movements, hopping 
and darting about, up, down and sidewise. If 
the Mocker feels well, he sings as he darts about, 
as jerkily and impulsively as he moves. 
The Mocking-Bird loves to sing almost as well 
as some persons love to hear him. His typical 
song is a bewildering medley of warbling, chirp- 
ing and twittering, many passages being very 
clever imitations of other birds, but the majority 
of it is improvised for the occasion. Next to 
1 Mi'mus pol-y-glot’tos. Length, about 10 inches. 
the marvellous variety of his vocal exercises is 
the clearness and sweetness of his notes; for this 
singer never sharps nor flats. The amount and 
variety of the melody that comes from that in- 
significant little gray midget in feathers are truly 
marvellous. Every person who has heard the 
free, wild bird performing in its home thicket 
knows that the singing of caged specimens is but 
a spiritless imitation of the wild song. 
Strange to say, this bird not only sings in the 
daytime, but there are periods, esjaecially during 
the breeding season, when the male sings at 
night. 
As usual, man’s destructiveness reaches out for 
this the greatest of all American singers Thou- 
sands of nestlings are caged, the majority of them 
in Louisiana. Those that do not die in the proc- 
ess of rearing, live for brief periods in wretched 
little 12 by 14-inch cages, and die without having 
known one happy, joyous hour. It is reported 
that in most portions of the South, the Mocking- 
Birds are rapidly decreasing in number, espe- 
cially in Arkansas. The killing of a bird of this 
species, on any pretext, should be made a penal 
offence. 
THE DIPPER FAMILY. 
Cinclidae. 
The Water-Ouzel, or Dipper,’ is one of the 
most remarkable little birds on this continent. 
CAT-BIRD. 
It is a genuine water-elf, and the things it can 
do are almost beyond belief. I first saw it in late 
2 Cin'clus mex-i-can'us. Length, about 8 inches. 
