THE MOCKING-BIRD. 
19 
laying up lessons from almost every species of the feathered creation within 
his hearing, are really surprising, and mark the peculiarity of his genius. 
To these qualities we may add that of a voice full, strong, and musical, and 
capable of almost every modulation, from the clear and mellow tone of the 
wood-thrush to the savage scream of the bald eagle. In measure and ac¬ 
cent he faithfully follows his originals ; in force and sweetness of expression 
he greatly improves upon them. In his native groves, mounted on the top 
of a tall bush or half-grown tree, in the dawn of the dewy morning, while the 
woods are already vocal with a multitude of warblers, his admirable song 
rises pre-eminent over every competitor.” 
Nothing comes amiss to the mocking-bird—the bark of a dog, the tremu¬ 
lous quavering of the canary, the creak of a wheel-barrow, or the soft cooing 
of the wood-pigeon. In a domesticated condition, however, the mocking¬ 
bird’s chief characteristic renders it impossible that he should be regarded as 
a sober chamber musician. For a while he will be content with his own natu¬ 
ral 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 sugges¬ 
tion 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 bluebird 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 un¬ 
initiated look around 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 be¬ 
fore 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 
neighborhood. It is even asserted that if the eggs should be hatched, the hen 
will, under such circumstances, kill her naked little brood and then decamp. 
However this may be, it must not be regarded as arising from want of affec¬ 
tion, as no bird 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-bird colony; fearless of 
the reptile’s nimble fang, the birds will press about it, and, with the swift¬ 
ness 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 curi¬ 
ous bird. In its first plumage the young mocking-bird is of a dull yellowish- 
gray on the upper portions of the body, while the under portions are yellow- 
