Mastered Overnight.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Issue 50, 6 May 1899, Page 1

Mastered Overnight.

Q A good story about a bird, or any other animal, is doubly interesting if the reader can be sure that it is not only true substantially, but has not been dressed out by the w liter's imagination. Such a story is the following, told by Mr William Brewster. one of the best known of American ornithologists. He was spending some weeks at the little "village of St. Mary's on the coast of Georgia. Mock-mg-bnds weie abundant, and being protected by everyone, 'were half domesticated, building their nests in the shubbery that surrounded the houses, and hopping about, like robins, upon the grass plots and gra\ellecl walks.' An or.mge-tree m front of the window was appropriated by a paiticularly fine singer. Hie repertoire included the notes of nearly all the birds of the suriounding region, besides many of the characteristic village sounds, and most of the mutations weie simply peifect. Moreover, he was continually adding to his accomplishments. An instance of this occurred one afternoon, when several of us were sitting on the verandah. A greater yellow-legs (a well known game bud of the snipe and sandpiper iamily) passing over the town was attracted by my answering whistle, and circled several times above the house reiterating his mellow call. This mocking-bird up to this time had been singing almost uninterruptedly, but at the sound of these stiange notes he relapsed into silence and retreated into the thickest foliage of his favouiite tree. Then we heard him trying them in an undertone.

The first note came pretty readily, but the falling inflection of the succeeding three troubled him. Whenever I ventured to prompt he would listen attentively, and at sunset that evening, for the first and only time dm ing my stay, his voice was missing in the general chorus. Bui at daylight the next morning the gilt den iang with a, perfect imitation of the yellow leg's whistle. He had mastered it dining the night, and ever afterwards it was his favourite part. The discomfiture of the rival males in the neighbouihood was as amusing as it was unmistakable. Each in turn tried the nev> song, but not one succeeded.

The weai and tear of life in these times is ■veiy gieat, says the Waiautk Advektisek. At the milway station on Wednesday this was gieatly in evidence. A veiy fat lady appioached the vreiging machine wheie a couple of young tellows weie compaiing avondupois, and asked to be weighed. They heaved her on to the machine and she turned the scale at 18st. She sighed heartbiokenly and stepping down remaiked that beloie she came " wointing " after these Waikakahi sections she could boast of her 20 stone.