102 
Brewster on Southern Birds. 
despair, and at sunset that evening for the first and only time 
during my stay his voice was missing in the general chorus. 
But at daylight the next morning the garden rang with a perfect 
imitation of the Yellow-leg’s whistle. He had mastered it during 
the night, and ever afterwards it was his favorite part. The dis- 
comfiture of the rival males in the neighborhood was as amusing 
as it was unmistakable. Each in turn tried it, but not one of them 
succeeded. 
Another frequenter of the village shrubbery was the Orchard 
Oriole. His flute-like voice, which bears some resemblance 
to that of the Fox Sparrow, could be heard almost any time after 
April 10. Our garden offered especial attractions to these 
Orioles, for the hedge of wild olive trees that bordered it on two 
sides was overrun with Cherokee roses and trumpet-vines among 
which they found a congenial shelter. They were fond, too, of 
sipping the honey from the trumpet-flowers, and it was no un- 
common thing to see half-a-dozen collected about a single clus- 
ter. In this occupation they were almost invariably joined by 
numerous Hummingbirds ; — and such a group, with its setting of 
green leaves and scarlet and white blossoms, formed the prettiest 
picture imaginable. 
To our garden also came the Blue Jays; bold, familiar birds 
very different in bearing from the outcast that boys and would-be 
sportsmen pursue so relentlessly in the northern woods. Every- 
where at the South this Jay is as much an inhabitant of the 
cultivated grounds as of the forests, and if not actually encouraged, 
it is universally tolerated. In Jacksonville I have heard them 
screaming among the live-oaks that shade the busiest streets, 
and at St. Mary’s they were scarcely less tame and confiding 
than the Mockingbirds. 
The average Georgian is indifferent to the shooting of most 
of the birds that inhabit his plantation ; but it is little short 
of a crime in his eyes to take the life of either a Turkey 
Buzzard or a Mockingbird. The killing of one of the for- 
mer is considered an offence against the State, which protects 
them on account of their services as scavengers. But the Mock- 
ing birds are treasured as personal property, and any interference 
with them is sure to be promptly resented. The natural result 
of this sentiment is that both species are universally abundant 
and familiar. The Buzzards, especially, are ubiquitous. At 
