Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1886-06-02
THE MOCKING BIRD.
GRADUAL DETERMINATION OF THE
soNG5TER or THE SOUTH.

SONG ER Or HE SOUTH.
Shot by Unsentimental IIuatega-Itob-
bing the Nests-The 1focking Bird from
"a Sentimental Point of yiew-His Won
derrul Powers of Song.
A great deal has been written during
the last three years concerning the grad
ual determination of the south's splendid
songster, the hooking bird, or to be more
definite. the Minus Polyglottus. The
Telegraph first called attention to the sub
ject, and | see no reason to doubt that the
theory then advanced to account for the
growing scarcity of the birds was and is a
true one. The reason given was the un-
checked slaughter of the birds by negro
'sportsmen," and the destruction or cap
ture of their young from wantonness or a
desire for gain. The theory has been COM
bated. 1t is stated by some that the Eng
lish sparrow is driving out the singers.
BY Others that the destruction of the for
ests has something to do with the evil. 1t
is even suggested hat hurricanes may be
the real cause. None of these theories
Will stand the test. The English sparrow
not, in fact no bird can drive out the
Knockers, who belong to a game and bel
Egerent family. The common knocking
bird will attack dogs, cats, hawks, crows,
and buzzards when they invade his range,
and / have never known one of them TO
give up the contest. He is not a forest
bird, but of the fields. He prefers an open
situation and the haunts of men. The
orchard, hedge, q solitary haw bush,
where he has plenty of sunlight and a
breadth of view, suits him best. And it is
in the fields and orchards that he finds
food. OF all nests his is probably the
most carefully built, and little trouble is
taken to conceal it. He seems to feel that
his song is the price Of security, and this
mistake is fast playing havoc with him.
DESTRUCTION BY NEGRO HUNTERS.
Up to emancipation times, or rather the
close of the war, knocking birds were
plentiful every where in Georgia. Dur
ing the years that followed freedom armed
a race to whom guns had been forbidden.
The negro became an enthusiastic hunter,
but he was unskilled and could not graf
lily his craze for destroying only upon
birds that were nearest at hand. Mock
ing birds, cardinals, ~jo-reels, catbirds and
thrushes Went down as easy %conquests be-
fore q class that had never been taught
better, and had neither sentiment nor con-
science. The negro hunter of to-day, with
possibly a few exceptions, are not wing
shots, n they fill their bags with birds
that can be killed in the trees. 1t goes
without saying that these are the birds
that should be spared to the fields and to
society. My observation has been that
few, very few, negroes win pass, gun in
hand, anything that has feathers and is
large enough to cook, and this is borne
out by the fact that the bluejay, the wood
pecker, and the catbird are disappearing
from the fields and woods almost ms fast
as the hooking bird proper.
The destruction of the mocking bird has
been more rapid because his nest has been
systematically robbed by parties of both
colors Tor private gain or graft
hcat1on. A yea or two since
we noted one shipment of these birds
from Savannah which contained 600 or 700.
Upon the streets of this and all other cities
they are openly sold every summer.
When, however, we look at him from a
sentimental point, the wonder that any one
can harm a member of the mocking bird
family increases. No song bird in the
world can equal the sweetness of his notes
or sustain a song SO long. No bird known
to naturalists can produce the notes of
others n of fowls or rel animals with
such precision and in such combination.
The little gray singer that balances him.
self upon treetops, or dances along the
ridges of our houses, seems to have all the
bird notes of the land at his tongues end,
and to delight in weaving them into new
forms of beauty. That he has never been
the poets theme to the extent that the
lark, the nightingale, or even the robin
has, L attribute to hisname. 1t is not fitted
for verse, nor is it at all poetical. Had he
borne the name of Orpheus, as does his
cousin, of the Greater antilles, he would
have hlled the song lore Of the south. Paul
Hayne, William Hamilton Hayne, and o
few Others have used him, but none have
conquered his plebeian name.