Comparative physiognomy; or, Resemblances between men and animals . possess a strong resem-blance to the mocking-bird ; theystrike the chords in human bo-soms when they waken their own,without producing a jarring dis-cord other than is necessary toincrease the harmony; they knowthe secret spring of feeling in thehuman heart. They possess knowledge of humannature, and the reason is, theyfeel what others feel, intuitively,in a way they can not account for. They are better physiog-nomists than others, but how it is that they are seldom ornever deceived in theirestimate of character
Comparative physiognomy; or, Resemblances between men and animals . possess a strong resem-blance to the mocking-bird ; theystrike the chords in human bo-soms when they waken their own,without producing a jarring dis-cord other than is necessary toincrease the harmony; they knowthe secret spring of feeling in thehuman heart. They possess knowledge of humannature, and the reason is, theyfeel what others feel, intuitively,in a way they can not account for. They are better physiog-nomists than others, but how it is that they are seldom ornever deceived in theirestimate of characterthey can not tell. The eloquence thatthe mocking-bird pos-sesses in so extraordi-nary a degree is ac-companied by a won-derful knowledge ofcharacter. He neverfails to distinguish his <friends from his ene-mies in the animal cre-ation, and is almost equally sagacious in respect to humanbeings. He is as wary of enemies as the crow, but his confi-dence in building his nest close by a house, and a few feetfrom the ground, shows that he is not governed by suspicion. 326 COMPARATIVE PHYSIOGNOMY. in his relations with others. Of the cat-bird, which is a mock-ing-bird of very charming accomplishments, Audubon says: In some instances I have known this bird to recognise atonce its friend from its foe, and to suffer the former even tohandle the treasure deposited in its nest, with all the markedassurance of the knowledge it possessed of its safety; when,on the contrary, the latter had to bear all its anger. Thesight of a dog seldom irritates it, while a single glance at thewily cat excites the most painful paroxysms of alarm. Thisknowledge of the dispositions of others is very intimately con-nected with his gift of eloquence; for the notes of differentbirds are the sounds of their affections, and the bird that canexpress them all must have inspired the feelings which eachone expresses the moment he heard them. Another trait of the mocking-bird is his deadly hostility tooppressors, part
Size: 1769px × 1413px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, bookpubl, booksubjectphysiognomy
