. Cassell's natural history. Animals; Animal behavior. Tllli MOCKIXU BIRD. 61 birds, as many other species do. The above account does not contain all that I wish you to know of the habits of this remarkable songster, go I shall shift tlie scene to the woods and wilds, where we shall examine it more particularly. The Mocking-bird remains in Louisiana the whole year. I have observed with astonishment that towards the end of October, when those which had gone to the Eastern States—some as far as Boston—have returned, they are instantly known to the ' Southrons,' who attack them on all occasions.
. Cassell's natural history. Animals; Animal behavior. Tllli MOCKIXU BIRD. 61 birds, as many other species do. The above account does not contain all that I wish you to know of the habits of this remarkable songster, go I shall shift tlie scene to the woods and wilds, where we shall examine it more particularly. The Mocking-bird remains in Louisiana the whole year. I have observed with astonishment that towards the end of October, when those which had gone to the Eastern States—some as far as Boston—have returned, they are instantly known to the ' Southrons,' who attack them on all occasions. I have ascertained this by obsen'ing tlie gi-eater shyness exhibited by the strangers for weeks after their arrival. This shyness, however, is shortly over, as well as the animosity displayed by the resident birds, and during the winter thei-e exists a gi-eat appearance of sociality among the united tribes. In the beginning of April, sometimes •* fortnight earlier, the Mocking-birds pair and construct their nests. In some-. MOCKING BIRD. they are so careless as to place the nest the rails of a fence dii-ectly by the i-oad. I have frequently found it in such places, or in the fields, as well as in briars, but always so easily discoverable that any person desirous of procuring one might do so in a very snort time. It is constructed on the outside, being thei-e composed of dried sticks of briar, withered leaves of trees, and grasses, mixed with wool. Liternally it is finished with fibrous roots, disposed in a circular form, but carelessly ari-anged. The female lays from four to six eggs the first time, four or five the next, and when there is a third brood, which is some- times the case, seldom more than three, of which I have rarely found more than two hatched. The eggs are of a short oval form, light green, blotched and spotted with amber. The young of the last brood, not being able to support themselves until late in the season, when many of the berries
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