THE MOCKING-BIRD* 
regarded as a sober chamber musician. For awhile he will be 
content with his own natural melody, which consists of from 
two to six short full notes, but the least noise is sufficient to 
disturb the flow of his natural melody, and one suggestion 
giving rise to another, you presently hear a Babel of bird 
music almost impossible to bear. “ His imitations of the 
brown thrush/’ says a well-known naturalist, “ are frequently 
interrupted by the crowing of cocks ; the exquisite warblings of 
the blue-bird are by no means improved by the screaming of 
swallows or the cackling of hens ; the shrill reiterations of the 
whip-poor-will are introduced into the simple melody of the 
robin. The uninitiated look round for the original, and then find 
that what appeared to be the product of a number of performers 
is really that of the single bird before us.” 
So jealous is the mocking-bird of its nest, that should it be 
too closely approached, it will destroy the entire structure, and 
at once forsake the neighbourhood. It is even asserted that it* 
the eggs should be hatched, the hen will, under such circum- 
stances, kill her naked little brood and then decamp. However 
this may be, it must not be regarded as arising from want of 
affection, as no bud is more courageous than the mocking-bird 
in defence of its young. Should a boy attempt the nest, it will 
attack his face and hands with the ferocity of the hawk ; and 
even its enemy, the black snake, is not always victorious in its 
burglarious onslaught in a mocking-bud colony ; fearless of the 
reptile’s nimble fang, the birds will press about it, and, with 
the swiftness of an arrow, dart at it with their spear-like beaks. 
The eggs of the mocking-bird are four and sometimes five in 
number, and of a deep blue blurred with irregular brown 
patches. Two broods are usually produced • each year, though 
should the bird be robbed or disturbed during incubation, she 
will build and lay a third time. It should be stated, however, 
that Bechstein is of opinion that the parent birds rear only one 
brood in a season, which would tend to account for the 
scarcity of this curious bird. In its first plumage the young 
mocking-bud is of a dull yellowish-grey on the upper portions 
of the body, while the under portions are yellowish-white, the 
centre of each feather being streaked -with brown. After the 
first moult, however, the bud’s plumage assumes a blending of 
brown and brilliant yellow, which it wears ever after. 
Audubon gives a most interesting account of the loves of 
these elegant buds, which, though we have not space to quote, 
we shall embody in our narrative. They often select the vicinity 
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