172 
MOCKING BIRD. 
doubt, however, but that this bird would be fully equal to the 
song of the Nightingale in its whole compass ; but then, from 
the attention which the Mocker pays to any other sort of dis- 
agreeable noise, these capital notes would be always debased 
by a bad mixture.” 
On this extract I shall make a few T remarks. If, as is here 
conceded, the Mocking Bird be fully equal to the song of the 
Nightingale, and, as I can with confidence add, not only to 
that, but to the song of almost every other bird, besides being 
capable of exactly imitating various other sounds and voices 
of animals, — his vocal powers are unquestionably superior to 
those of the Nightingale, which possesses its own native 
notes alone. Farther, if we consider, as is asserted by Mr 
Barrington, that 66 one reason of the Nightingale’s being more 
attended to than others is, that it sings in the night and 
if we believe, with Shakespeare, that 
The Nightingale, if she should sing by day 
When every goose is cackling, would be thought 
No better a musician than a Wren, 
what must we think of that bird, who, in the glare of day, 
when a multitude of songsters are straining their throats in 
melody, overpowers all competition, and, by the superiority 
of his voice, expression, and action, not only attracts every 
ear, but frequently strikes dumb his mortified rivals ; when 
the silence of night, as well as the bustle of day, bear witness 
to his melody ; and when, even in captivity, in a foreign 
country, he is declared, by the best judges in that country, 
to be fully equal to the song of their sweetest bird in its whole 
compass? The supposed degradation of his song by the 
introduction of extraneous sounds, and unexpected imitations, 
is, in fact, one of the chief excellencies of this bird ; as these 
changes give a perpetual novelty to his strain, keep atten- 
tion constantly awake, and impress every hearer with a deeper 
interest in what is to follow. In short, if we believe in the 
truth of that mathematical axiom, that the whole is greater 
