MOCKING-BIRD. 
103 
ing in the prejudices of our forefathers; with whom every thing 
French was inferior to every thing English* 
The Mocking-bird is frequently taken in trap-cages, and by 
proper management may be made sufficiently tame to sing. 
The upper parts of the cage (which ought to be of wood) should 
be kept covered, until the bird becomes a little more recon- 
ciled to confinement. If placed in a wire cage, uncovered, he 
will soon destroy himself in attempting to get out. These birds, 
however, by proper treatment may be brought to sing perhaps 
superior to those raised by hand, and cost less trouble. The 
opinion which the naturalists of Europe entertain of the great 
difficulty of raising the Mocking-bird, and, that not one in ten 
survives, is very incorrect. A person called on me a few days 
ago, with twenty-nine of these birds, old and young, which he 
had carried about the fields with him for several days, for the 
convenience of feeding them while engaged in trapping others. 
He had carried them thirty miles, and intended carrying them 
ninety-six miles farther, viz. to New York; and told me, that he 
did not expect to lose one out of ten of them. Cleanliness, and 
regularity in feeding, are the two principal things to be attended 
to, and these rarely fail to succeed. 
The eagerness with which the nest of the Mocking-bird is 
sought after in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, has rendered 
this bird extremely scarce for an extent of several miles around 
the city. In the countryround Wilmington and Newcastle, they 
are very numerous, from whence they are frequently brought 
here for sale. The usual price of a singing bird is from seven to 
fifteen, and even twenty dollars. I have known fifty dollars paid 
for a remarkable fine singer; and one instance where one hun- 
dred dollars were refused for a still more extraordinary one. 
Attempts have been made to induce these charming birds to 
pair, and rear their young in a state of confinement, and the result 
* The observations of Mr. Barrington, in the paper above referred to, make 
this supposition stUl more probable. “ Some Nightingales,” says he, “ are so 
vastly inferior, that the bird-catchers will not keep them, branding them with 
the name of Frenchmen. ” p. 283. 
