94 
TURDUS POLYGLOTTUS. 
screamitiff of swallows, or the cackling: of hens ; amid®* 
the simple melody of the robin, we are suddenly surprise® 
by the shrill reiterations of the whip-poor-will ; whil* 
the notes of the killdcer, blue jay, martin, baltimorej 
and twenty others, succeed, with such imposing- realit.'*’ 
that we look round for the originals, and discovcf' 
with astonishment, that the sole performer in this 
singular concert is the admirable bird now before uf' 
During this exhibition of his powers, he spreads hi* 
wings, expands his tail, and throws himself around th* 
cage in all the ecstasy of enthusiasm, seeming not onl.f 
to sing, but to dance, keeping time to the measure o' 
his own music. Both in his native and domesticate® 
state, during the solemn stillness of night, as soon 
the moon rises in silent majesty, he begins his d®" 
lightful solo ; and serenades us the livelong night will' 
a full display of his vocal powers, making the whol* 
neighbourhood ring with his inimitable medley.* 
Were it not to seem invidious in the eyes of foreigO' 
ers, I might, in this ])lace, make a comparative statemeid 
between the powers of the mocking bird, and the oul.f 
bird, I believe, iu the world, worthy of being compare® 
with him, — the European nightingale. This, howevct’ 
I am unable to do from my own observation, havio? 
never myself heard the song' of the latter; and, even >’ 
I had, perhaps something might be laid to the score ® 
* The hunters in the southern States, when setting out on 5® 
excursion by night, as .soon as they hear the mocking bird IJCg®’ 
to sing, know that the moon is rising. 
A certain anonymous author, speaking of the mocking bird® ’® 
the Island of .lamaica, and their practice of singing by moonlit 
thus gnavely philosophizes, and attempts to account for the 
“ It is not certain,” says he, “ whether they are kept so wakco* 
by the clearne.sa of the light, or by any extraordinary attention 
vigilance, at such times, for the protection of their nursery 
the piratical assaults of the owl and the night hawk. It is pos®'^-, 
that fear may operate upon them, much in the same manner ^ ’ 
has been observed to alfect some cowardly persons, who 
stoutly in a lonesome place, while their mino Is agitated with t® 
terror of thieves or hobgoblins .” — History of Jamaica, vol. 
p. 894, quarto. 
