ORGANS OF VOICE. 
69 
be seen crowing away ; occasionally indulging in its 
natural song, but this only for a second or two; 
for it soon began again to crow ; and when the cocks 
from a neighbouring poultry-yard answered it, the 
little bird seemed delighted, and seemed as if it 
was trying to rival them in the shrillness of its note. 
It was supposed that it must have been bred near the 
spot, and learned the cry from hearing the cocks*. 
The Goat-sucker, Night-jar, Hawkmoth, (or, as 
it is better known, in many places, the Wheel- Bird, 
owing to its making a sound much resembling a 
spinning-wheel,) is another bird not uncommon in 
this country during the summer months, frequenting 
heaths and commons. The best time to hear it is 
about dusk, when it may be cautiously approached, 
and discovered sitting with its head downwards, 
repeating, for a considerable time, its rough jarring 
cry. 
In foreign countries, however, there are birds 
possessing a far greater power of imitation. We 
need scarcely mention the Mocking-Bird of North 
America at the head of the list ; so widely spread 
over the world is its character, not only having the 
power of imitating the note of every bird it hears, 
but also that of animals and other sounds. It can 
bark like a dog, mew like a cat ; then all of a sudden 
make the exact noise of a trundling wheelbarrow ; 
sometimes it will call the hens together by scream- 
ing like a wounded chicken ; or entice the house-dog 
from the fire-side by whistling for it in its master’s 
well-known summons. 
There is a species of Crow in India, ( Corvus 
* See Mag . Nat . Hist., vol. iv., p. 433. 
