Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1921-03-29
NATURAL HISTORY.
OF THE. SOUTH
THE .MoCkINGBIRD.
BY JAMES HENRY RICE, Jr.

SlOLlO, tne MltlllC u .hdily 1OiiS oeS
Greek, Meimos. a mimic. and polus,
glottos, many tongues).
The. mockingbird is a nigh kinsman
to the Catbird and to the Brown
Thrasher, so nigh to the latter that
they have been known to interbreed
(Wayne). No bird is better. known
throughout the South; none is popular
in more communities. The Mocking-
bird had his champions long before
bird protection received general at
tention. His song and his mimicry
have charmed alike the young and the
old, the ignorant and the learned.
Human habitations appeal to him. He
asserts proprietary rights, fussing at
the house cat and pinching the tail Of
the yard dog. when either crosses his
path. I have known setter dog to
carry his tail between his legs when
ever he crossed the front yard, because
the Mockingbird had so often assailed
that appendage.
Has Wide Range.
The range Of the Mockingbrd is
from Nebraska through Iowa, Illinois
(southcrn), Indiana, Ohio across to
Maryland, south to eastern Texas and
southern Florida and the Bahamas.
Occasionally it is found in New York
and Massachusetts,, beyond which it's
occurrence is accidental. 1t has been
introduced into Bermuda. In the south
western United States the place is taken
by the Western Mockingbird (Mimus
polyglottos leucopterus. the last COM
ing from two Greek words, 1eukos,
white and pteron, a wing).
There are from four to five greenish-
blue eggs laid; and some three broods
are raised. during the season. Wayne
gives the second week in April as the
usual time for the first laying The
second brood comes off in June and the
last in August. The nest is placed in
a thick bush or vine, seldom more
than ten feet from the ground; it is
constructed Of sticks and leaves, lined
with rootlets.
Sidney Lanier called the Mocking-
bird, "a feathered, Shakespeare" One
Of Paul Hamilton Haynes most beau
tiful lyrics describes the singing of a
Mockingbird in Florida, during the
fatal illness Of child, the song ceas-
ing altogether when the child died. In
an article in Alfred Newton's Diction-
airy Of Birds, Professor Shufeldt states
to the Nightingale's country, the Night
ingale would be made ashamed of
himself by hearing his own song pro-
duced with a purity and volume, he
could not hope TO rival.
Wayne says that Mockingbirds
along the coast mimic the migrating
shore birds and the sea birds, and that.
near McPhersonville, he heard them
initiate the birds Of d nearby swamp,
together with the notes Of the migrat-
ing Bartramian Sandpiper. Loomis
told Frank NJ. Chapman Of a Mocking-
bird (probably in Chester, where
Loomis was long resident) that
mimicked the notes Of thirty-two diff
ferent birds, all in the space Of ten
minutes.
AS the singers in the opera will go
out between acts for a sandwich, so the
Mockingbird will rise$lfin air sipgiintlgisf a
slowly descend, deliffous with. :. his
music, and all at once drop down into
the garden and pick up for lunch a
fat worm, before beginning another
performance.
Silent Two Months in Year.
Silent during August and September,
they sing nearly all the rest Of the
year on the coast; and on moonlight
nights, from the top Of some glorious
magnolia, they fill the night with
melody. Mimic as he is the Mocking-
bird has a song of his own and is 4
wonder at improvising. Mr.. Frank NJ.
Chapman says that comparatively few
A1ockingbirds are good mimics, but this
perhaps is due to the fact that he IS
not so we'll acquainted with the bird
during the summer months. My eX-
perence shows nearly all Of them to
be milnicS. but of course individuals
vary in the extent Of their powers.
Sometimes one will freeze himself
into so small compass that he vii! be
taken for sparrow at a little distance;
then again he will fluff out his
feathers as to appear the size Of
dove. Mockingbird's are great fruit
lovers and take toll Of cherries. straw
berries, grapes and so on. They do
more damage to grapes by their GYM
nastic performances, than they do by
devouring grapes. We formerly sack
ed grapes to avoid this; but Prof.
Newman tells me that he has always
been able to raise enough grapes for
himself and the birds. so that the
damage was negligible.
Bruce IIorsfalrS picture Of MOCK
ingbird. pcrched on Il cotton stalk, with
the cotton blossom just blown, and, IN
the background a negro cabin on the
edge of the pines, carries with it the
poetry and pathos of the birds life and
surroundings in the lower cotton belt.
This is used to illustrate the leaflet on
the Mockingbird in the educationa!
series oc the National Association of
Audubon Societies. The article was
written by T. Gilbert Pearson, now
president of the National Association.
and is one of the finest tributes TO the
Mockingbird in the language. A
Southern man himself, Mr.. Pearson
grew up amid the associations that en-
dear the Mockingbird to every fine
ro,,l. n,d Lo hue utl15jpd them thr0llrh-