. The birds of California : a complete, scientific and popular account of the 580 species and subspecies of birds found in the state. Birds; Birds. The Western Mockingbird mounting guard above upon the cottage chim- ney, he has made us partners in interest. His cause is ours, and woe betide him who dares impugn the musical virtues of the American Mockingbird. He has touched our honor. The Nightingale sings only in a northern springtime—or so they tell us. With the Mockingbird it is eternal Spring. If bird-song expresses, as we hold, joy in life, rather than merely a passing desire to capture a
. The birds of California : a complete, scientific and popular account of the 580 species and subspecies of birds found in the state. Birds; Birds. The Western Mockingbird mounting guard above upon the cottage chim- ney, he has made us partners in interest. His cause is ours, and woe betide him who dares impugn the musical virtues of the American Mockingbird. He has touched our honor. The Nightingale sings only in a northern springtime—or so they tell us. With the Mockingbird it is eternal Spring. If bird-song expresses, as we hold, joy in life, rather than merely a passing desire to capture a mate, then is the Mockingbird the most joyful of birds. He is always at it, winter and summer. Or if in the springtime his songs are a little more earnest, a little more passionate, he is not more partial than the rest of us. Spring is the joy-time par excellence, and if one sings in the autumn, is it not because spring has been entrapped and carried over in the heart? Or if in winter, this is doubtless, also, because spring is coming. Song is the Mocker's raison d'etre. It is his own true love, his passion, his obsession, no less than his trade. Not content with his own inspira- tions, masterly, varied, and abundant as these are, the singer lays under tribute everything else that sings, or yodels, or squawks withal. The plaintive notes of a Say's Phoebe and the regal scream of the Western Redtail interest him alike. No other bird-song is too foreign, too intri- cate, or too delicate for his own rendition. Of the passing migrants he takes toll, no less than of his familiar neighbors. Two Mockers that I heard in Arizona, and these a hundred miles apart, had each preserved the recollection of the exquisite gushing song of the Lincoln Sparrow (Melospiza lincolni). These mimics, too, had been unusually favored,. Taken in Los Angeles County AN ORPHEAN INFANT Photo by the Author 719. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally
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Photo credit: © Library Book Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1923
