Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1857-05-21
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Ine Mocking Bird of America

ne American mockng bird is the prince of
a" sung BIRDS, being altogether unrivaIed in
'"e extent and variety of his vocal powers and
oesides the tn lness and melody of his original
uo'es he has faculty Of initiating the notes of
al Other birds, from the humming bird to the
eagle. Remnant states that he heard Gagged
one initiate the moving of cat, and the
creaKlng OF sign in high winds Darlington
says, his pipes come neares. to the nightingale
Oh any bird he ever heard. The description,
however, given by Wilson, in his own inimitable
manner, as far excel Pennant and Barring
ton as the bird exces his fellow sonpsters.
:" ison tells us that the ease. elegance and
rapld1iy OF his movements, the animation of his
eye and the intelligence hc displays in laying
up lessons, mark the puculiarty Of his genius.
Ills voice is full, strong and musical, and capa-
Die OF almost every moduaton, from the clear
and mellow tones of the wood thrush to The saw
age scream of the bald eagle In measure and
accents, he faithfully follows his original, while
IN strength and sweetness Of expression. he
greatly improves upon them. In his native
woods, upon dewy morning. his song rises
above every competitor, for the others appear
merely as inferior Accomplishments. His own
notes are bold and full, and varied seemingly
beyond all limits. They consist of short ex-
Presslons of one, three or at most five or six
sylables, generally uttered with grea, emphasis
and rapldity, and continued 18th the undimin-
lshed ardor for half an hour or for an hour
at time. While singing, he expands his ia il,
ellstenine with white, keeping time TO his own
music and the buoyanl gaiety of his action is
no less fascinating than his song He sweeps
round with enthusiastic ecstacy he mounts
and descends, as his song swels or dies away;
he bounds aloft with the celerity of an arrow,
as if 10 recover or recall his very soul, expired
In the last elevated strain. A bystander might
suppose that the whole feathered tribe had as
sembled together on a trial of SKILL each strv.
ing to produce the utmost effort, so perfect are
his limitations. He often deceives the sportman,
and even birds themselves are sometimes i'm
posed upon by this admirable mimic In con-
fnemen,, he loses little Of the power or energy
of his song. He whistles for the dog Cesar
starts up wags his tail, and runs to meet his
master, He cries like hurt chicken, and the
hen hurries about with feathers on end to pro-
tect her injured brood He repeats the tune
taught him, though it be of considerable length,
with perfect accuracy. He runs over The notes
of the canary and the red bird with such supe-
rlor execution and effect that the mortified song
sters confess his triumph by their immediate si
lence. His fondness for variety, some suppose
Injuries his song. His imitation of the brown
: thrush is often interrupted by the Growing Of
cocks and his exquisite warblings after the blue
bird are mingled with the screaming of swallows
or the cackling of hens. During moonlight
y both in the wild and tame state, lie sings tn,
3 whole night long The hunters, in their noe
turnal excursions, know that the moon is rising
d the instant they hear his delightful sola
After Shakespeare, Darlington attributes, il
9 part The exquisiteness of the nightingaes SOM
Q to the silence of the night but if so, what ar
e we to think of the bird which in the open glar
of day, overpowers and often silences all com
y petition! the natural notes of the American
mockiug bird are similar 10 those of the brow
Y thrush -Audubon.