Page:Birdcraft-1897.djvu/126

 ;Song:
 * Natural love-song, a rich, dreamy melody. "Mocking" song distinetly different, -an imitation of the notes of all the birds of field, forest, and garden broken into fragments.


 * Season:
 * A chance visitor, under which circumstances it is a summer

resident.


 * Breeds:
 * All through the South, and casually as far north as Massachusetts.


 * Nest:
 * Loosely made of leaves and grass, rags, feathers, etc., bulky and poorly constructed, never far from the ground.


 * Eggs:
 * 4-6; bluish green, heavily spattered with shades of brown.


 * Range:
 * United States south into Mexico. Rare from New Jersey, the Valley of the Ohio, Colorado, and California northward.

The Mockingbird, commonly known in this part of the country as a cage pet only, does not properly belong among the birds of the Middle or Eastern States, but S there are many records of its nesting in these latitudes, and as it is a conspicuous and interesting bird, it is safe to inelude it.

Escaped individuals are often seen in our city parks, one having lived in Central Park, New York, late into the winter of 1892-93, a season which is remembered as being very cold and stormy. Venturous pairs of Mockers have reared their young as far north as Arlington, near Boston, and they are noted as "rare summer visitants, occasionally breeding, particularly in the Connectieut Valley," by Dr. J. A. Allen. Stratford, Conn., also has one breeding-record of long standing.

The Mockingbird is very valiant in the care of its young, and particularly winning and sociable in its relations with man, which friendliness is illy rewarded by the theft of its nestlings, that they may be sold at home and abroad. In addition to this, all through the South these birds are wantonly shot by man and boy because they consume berries and small fruits.

As a cage bird it retains its nocturnal habits, often singing and fluttering in the middle of the night; it also shows many intelligent traits and marked preferences for certain individuals.

The power of song varies greatly in different individuals, some become vocal jugglers, and others retain many of their