David Mahler, age 10, of Nashville, Tenn.'s for his question:
Around Nashville, the gentle air of the Southland has already whispered that spring is on the way. The japonica sends out blossoms like rows of pink and red cups for a fairy tea party. The forsythia displays tall sprigs of yellow; And somewhere near, on the next moonlight night, the mockingbird will sing a song of springtime .. and those who hear his sweet, throaty melody will know that he is the greatest singer in all the land.
Oh yes, the mockingbird can imitate many other birds. He can croak like a frog, bark like a dog and even make a noise like a squeaky cart wheel. But when he stirs from his sleep on a moonlit night, the mockingbird sings his own song: A thrush wakes up and answers with his trilling melody. Maybe a sparrow chirps or a swallow twitters on his nest. But none can imitate the mockingbird, for his own true song is the most beautiful song in the world.
To look at him, you would never take the mockingbird for a star performer, He is a grey bird, ashy grey above and pearly grey below, His tail is quite long and there are white patches on his short, rounded wings. He is about as big as a robin, though more slender. But wherever he lives, he is loved and honored. The mockingbird has been chosen as the state bird of Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas.
Like all great singers, the mockingbird has an ear for notes and sounds. He chooses perhaps a robin to imitate. He listens carefully to the redbreasts cheerful melody and then he begins to practice. He goes over and over his imitation until he is note perfect. He may listen to the frogs and later on startle you by croaking right on your back porch. And he sings his various songs day and night, from February all through summer until August,
The mockingbird is one of Americas s favorite birds and he loves us in return. In the wild, he lives in shrubs and sheltered woods but it is easy to tempt him to set up his housekeeping right in your garden. He will use a bird bath if you set one out for him and he gratefully accepts any scraps of food. He likes fruity especially grapes. If you have a holly tree, he may build his nest nearby, for the bright red berries will provide him‑with food through the winter. When he gets to know you, he will perch on the windowsill and maybe come right indoors. Between songs arid visits, he will forage for grasshoppers, beetles and other insects.
The sweet singer builds a bulky nest of twigs and weeds. He hunts for bits of string and small scraps of cloth to line it with a soft pad. Each egg is about one inch long. It may b e greenish or blue, but spreading down from the wide end of the eg$, there will be almost certainly a. rash of brown ~fredkles: The nest‑ will perch about ten feet ‑above the ground in a shrub or vine or thicket and it will‑hold three to six pretty eggs.
The 'sweet singer does not fly south when winter comes. He lives all year in the Southland, in all the central states south of the Great Lakes and over the Rockies in California. Even though he does not sing during the cool months, he is there, feeding on fruit and. berries and waiting for the warm spring air to wake up the first beetles,