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Painted

—

Published

1930

Volume

11

Plate

703

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Mockingbird

Mimus polyglottos polyglottos

DESCRIPTION

"List to that bird! His song — what poet pens it?
Brigand of birds, he's stolen every note.
Prince tho of thieves — hark how the rascal spends it!
Pours the whole forest from one tiny throat!"

"Incomparable" seems to be the only word fully defining the rare beauty of this gray-coated minstrel's song. The singing mood is as likely to seize him in the night hours as in daylight. Silhouetted against the moon, for he seldom sings until the moon is risen, from the top of a magnolia he fills the shadows with ringing notes fairly quivering at times with the ecstasy of feeling.

"MOCKINGBIRD" is somewhat of a misnomer for, though possessing the gift of mimicry in a wonderful degree, his song is often original. Even when he essays imitation the notes of other feathered vocalists are so improved, so much more sweetly rendered, that they must be taken as his own production. There are times, however, when he repeats exactly, tone for tone, other bird calls, much to the annoyance of the ornithologist. Deep in the tangle of Southern shrubbery the call of some rare bird he is anxious to see comes to him. A struggle through the briars and intricately-laced limbs is rewarded not by the bird he expected but by the sight of our loquacious friend. There he is, calmly perched on a limb, tail perpendicular, head up and it almost seems as though he were fully aware of the joke.

Though his range is usually confined to the Southern States, a few venturesome individuals roam as far north as Connecticut. The Northern climate is gradually becoming less rigorous, statistics to the contrary notwithstanding, and it may be that the future will find this feathered Patti more numerous north of the Mason and Dixon line. A few years ago a pair built their nest and raised young within fifteen miles of New York City. The changed environment made them more silent than their comrades farther south but more than one concert was listened to with great delight by the few bird lovers fortunate enough to know of their presence. A protective committee was appointed and did such good police duty that the three eggs were hatched and the young ones safely raised to accompany their parents on their trip toward the land of magnolia and orange blossoms.

We are part of all that has happened in the past. Creative art is based on inherited and personal experience. To accuse Mockingbirds of pure plagarism is neither just nor in line with fact.. Birds only a few months old, who have had no opportunity to hear certain other songsters, have given an extended concert of these same birds' songs. One observer listed 55 different songs imitated but anyone who has heard the Mockingbird will admit that there is always an individual touch which gives the performance a charm all its own.

The boisterous 'trade' had ceased waving palm fronds and the narrow golden strip of water between sloop and shore lay rippleless. I sat in the cockpit enjoying the temporary cessation of continuous wind. A bird flew from shore shrubbery and lit on the crosstrees. He looked sideways at me, turned an eye aloft and his back to me — reversed — settled comfortably close to the masthead — and then! A tiny tinkle — "a sound so fine, nothing lives between it and silence" — Biscayne Bay faded and I was back in Maine, hearing ice particles clinking from spruces. Pictures followed the tumultuous, or tender, notes — keening of a winter gale thru the schooner's rigging, on Georges — Plover calling over Monomoy — Yellowthroats singing in a South Beach dawn. With closed eyes Memory traveled far in the minutes that graybacked minstrel touched the major strings. My eyes opened — the swift tropic dusk had fallen and the bird was gone — but not the memory — ever!

BREEDING

NEST: Built of whatever vegetable material is handy — usually small twigs, grass, leaves, weed stalks, lined with rootlets, moss or cotton! Located in different places, generally in a thicket within 10 or 12 feet of the ground.

EGGS: 4 — 6; bluegreen thickly specked with brown shades.

RANGE

Southeastern United States, north to Maryland, Ohio, Illinois, Iowa and eastern Nebraska. Casual to Massachusetts, Maine, Ontario and Nova Scotia.

Cork Wood

Leitneria floridana

DESCRIPTION

A shrub or small 20-foot tree distributed along Gulf coast from Florida to Brazos river, Texas.

mockingbird
black-and-white-warbler
Black and White Warbler
636
golden-swamp-warbler
Golden Swamp Warbler
637
swainson-warbler
Swainson Warbler
638
wormeating-warbler
Wormeating Warbler
639
bachman-warbler
Bachman Warbler
640
bluewing-warbler
Bluewing Warbler
641
goldenwing-warbler
Goldenwing Warbler
642
lucy-warbler
Lucy Warbler
643
virginia-warbler
Virginia Warbler
644
nashville-warbler-calaveras-warbler
Nashville Warbler, Calaveras Warbler
645-645a
orangecrown-warbler
Orangecrown Warbler
646
lutescent-warbler-dusky-warbler
Lutescent Warbler, Dusky Warbler
646a-646b
tennessee-warbler
Tennessee Warbler
647
parula-warbler-northern-parula-warbler
Parula Warbler, Northern Parula Warbler
648-648a
sennett-warbler
Sennett Warbler
649
oliva-warbler
Olive Warbler
650
cape-may-warbler
Cape May Warbler
651
yellow-warbler
Yellow Warbler
652
sonora-yellow-warbler-alaska-yellow-warbler-california-yellow-warbler
Sonora Yellow Warbler, Alaska Yellow Warbler, California Yellow Warbler
652a-652b-652c
mangrove-warbler
Mangrove Warbler
653
blackthroat-blue-warbler-cairn-warbler
Blackthroat Blue Warbler, Cairn Warbler
654-654a
cairns-warbler
Cairns’ Warbler
654a
myrtle-warbler
Myrtle Warbler
655
audubon-warbler-blackfront-warbler
Audubon Warbler, Blackfront Warbler
656-656a
magnolia-warbler
Magnolia Warbler
657
cerulean-warbler
Cerulean Warbler
658
chestnutside-warbler
Chestnutside Warbler
659
baybreast-warbler
Baybreast Warbler
660
blackpoll-warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
661
blackburnian-warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
662
yellowthroat-warbler-sycamore-warbler
Yellowthroat Warbler, Sycamore Warbler
663-663a
grace-warbler
Grace Warbler
664
blackthroat-gray-warbler
Blackthroat Gray Warbler
665
goldencheek-warbler
Goldencheek Warbler
666
blackthroat-green-warbler
Blackthroat Green Warbler
667
townsend-warbler
Townsend Warbler
668
hermit-warbler
Hermit Warbler
669
kirtland-warbler
Kirtland Warbler
670
pine-warbler
Pine Warbler
671
palm-warbler-yellow-palm-warbler
Palm Warbler, Yellow Palm Warbler
672-672a
prairie-warbler
Prairie Warbler
673
ovenbird
Ovenbird
674
brook-warbler-grinnell-brook-warbler
Brook Warbler, Grinnell Brook Warbler
675-675a
southern-brook-warbler
Southern Brook Warbler
676
kentucky-warbler
Kentucky Warbler
677
connecticut-warbler
Connecticut Warbler
678
mourning-warbler
Mourning Warbler
679
tolmie-warbler
Tolmie Warbler
680
maryland-yellowthroat
Maryland Yellowthroat
681
western-yellowthroat-florida-yellowthroat
Western Yellowthroat, Florida Yellowthroat
681a-681b
pacific-yellowthroat-salt-marsh-yellowthroat
Pacific Yellowthroat, Salt Marsh Yellowthroat
681c-681e
belding-yellowthroat
Belding Yellowthroat
682
rio-grande-yellowthroat
Rio Grande Yellowthroat
682.1
yellowbreast-chat-longtail-chat
Yellowbreast Chat, Longtail Chat
683-683a
hooded-warbler
Hooded Warbler
684
wilson-warbler-pileolate-warbler-golden-pileolate-warbler
Wilson Warbler, Pileolate Warbler, Golden Pileolate Warbler
685-685a-685b
necklace-warbler
Necklace Warbler
686
redstart
Redstart
687
painted-redstart
Painted Redstart
688
redface-warbler
Redface Warbler
690
alaska-yellow-wingtail
Alaska Yellow Wagtail
696
pipit
Pipit
697
sprague-pipit
Sprague Pipit
700
dipper
Dipper
701
sage-thrusher
Sage Thrasher
702
mockingbird
Mockingbird
703
catbird
Catbird
704
brown-thrasher
Brown Thrasher
705
sennett-thrasher
Sennett Thrasher
706
curvebill-thrasher-palmer-thrasher
Curvebill Thrasher, Palmer Thrasher
707-707a
bendire-thrasher
Bendire Thrasher
708
san-lucas-thrasher-mearn-thrasher
San Lucas Thrasher, Mearn Thrasher
709-709a
california-thrasher
California Thrasher
710
leconte-thrasher-desert-thrasher
Leconte Thrasher, Desert Thrasher
711-711a
crissal-thrasher
Crissal Thrasher
712

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