Evening star., 1949-05-31
This and That
By Charles Z. Trace,ceH
"34th STREET.

Recently you gave the impression rather
definitely Of never having observed. or heard
Of any one observing. a startling initiating
another bird as the mockingbird Is reputed
to do.
In my own experience with mockingbirds.
I have many times heard them reproduce
a portion Of the song of another bird, blend
ing it into their own changeful melody, but
never the entirety of any bird song.
In the case of the starting. however.
have heard or read at least twice Of their
possessing this ability. and am able to
-vouch for this positively from my~own ex-
perience. .a
Outside my bedroom window. In my for
mer home in Philadelphia. was a fair sized
Norway maple some Of whose upper branches
were considerably less than rs feet away.
One evening. as was looking out this WIN
dow. I heard what I took to be the song
Of the wood thrush coming from the maple.
Upon looking for the thrush (they had
not been familiar residents OF our neigh
borhood for q couple of years at the time)
l. found to my amazement that it was no
thrush but a starting.
Il could actually see him singing, and
the song was complete. and so far as I
could discriminate. perfect In every respect.
and was repeated several times, as recol-
lect 1t. Yours very truly. H. p. H."
PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE.
Dear Sir:
Il was interested in your comment on
the startling. that he does not mock other
birds.
AT George Washington University several
years ago we were taught that starlinss do
mock other calls.
In downtown Washington, hearing the
- "A h<ntS uyai n hol Aff rih .fAI 20,
the startling. like your column.
Sincerely. M. A. T."
-
Dr. r. Schuyler Mathews In his famous
book. Field Book OF Wild Birds and Their
Music" said that the starting is scarcely Q
singer. his notes being an indescribable
tumble Of mixed tones including q few sweet
whistles
THE fact is," DR.. Mathews wrote, the
starting is a polyglot-but not mimic"
That was written. however, at the turn
Of the century. when there were not so
many starlings in this country to listen to
as there are now.
Since that day. many listeners have be-
lieved the bird does some mockery from
time to time
The little We have heard. personally,
scarcely deserves to be described as imta-
ton.
The starting is q comic, in his own right,
and has repertoire Of his own, 50 that he
really does not have to steal the music Of
others.
II we can believe DR.. Mathews, who was
real authority. the bird Is not much of q
mimic.
and interested In life. and certainly any
one who admires it. as thousands do. de-
spite its drawbacks, will be willing to admit
that II 1t put its mind to it. 1t could initiate
others. not as well as the mocker or catbird.
but at least to some extent.
Most bird limitations of other birds are
pretty poor stun after all. They almost
always lack the timbre. as the musicians
put it. They do not get the same sounds
In the same way, although one can recognize
1t. We have heard q mocker give the wood
thrush song completely OF key, but 50 GER
tainly that any human listener who did not
have q sure sense Of pitch would not know
the difference.
Our guess Is that our correspondent who
thought he heard . starting give q really
perfect imitation OF q wood thrush was
really listening to wood thrush. who. con-
cealed at some distance. gave his notes with
their usual ventriloquist effect. Since the
starting also was singing at the same time
the wood thrush song seemed TO come from
Its bill. but probably didn't.
The starting Is fine bird tmuch better
than some give it credit for being, 50 good.
in fact. that no one need TO credit 1t with
something not very good. after al.
Its sweet whistling Ii its real triumph.
Few persons. hearing those whistles. ever
attribute them TO the starting. They think
Of many others. suppose they have . rarity.
and scarcely can believe their own eyes and
ears when they 80 II 10 Just IN old Startling
taneo n til txoo.