100 
MOCKING-BIRD. 
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, Baltimore, 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 enthusiasm, seeming not only to sing, but to 
dance, keeping time to the measure of his own music. Both in 
his native and domesticated state, during 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 neighbourhood 
ring with his inimitable medley.* 
Were it not to seem invidious in the eyes of foreigners, I might 
in this place make a comparative statement between the powers 
of the Mocking-bird, and the only bird I believe in the world 
worthy of being compared with him, the European Nightin- 
gale. This, however, I am unable to do from my own observa- 
tion, having never myself heard the song of the latter; and even 
if I had, perhaps something might be laid to the score oi parti- 
ality, which, as a faithful biographer, I am anxious to avoid. I 
shall, therefore, present the reader with the opinion of a distin- 
• 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, speaking of the Mocking-birds in the island 
of .lamaica, and their practice of singing by moonlight, thus gravely philoso- 
phizes, 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 
‘ ‘ extraordinaiy 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 cowardly 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. 
