easy to mock

the mocking bird, the state bird of Texas. they were very aggressive to just about anything, including our cats when they got near their nests. i still remember one dive bombing Blacky repeatedly while she calmly walked through the yard. their name comes from their tendancy to copy other birds songs. two of my favorite stories about mocking birds are as follows.

I was walking to the bus stop in the early dawn, when I started to whistle. I had just learned how to whistle but i practiced when i was alone. suddenly my tune came back at me in a different voice. I looked around in the dim light, but couldn't see anyone. I kept whistling the same tune and it came back again. I tried another more complex tune while walking and looking for the source. I figured it was a mocking bird by then and, after a longer pause, it repeated the new tune. so my battle continued with my unseen opponent as i walked to the bus stop. i was having trouble coming up with new tunes and my throat was dry because i was new to whistling, but the mocking bird was really good. eventually i whistled something similar to the Heman masters of the universe song and that stumped my opponent. I never saw it, but when i got to the bus stop i was smiling and stayed that way for the whole day knowing i had defeated a master.

the second story is something that happened repeatedly with one particular mocking bird. He would come down and snatch a blackberry from our monster bush and take it to the top of the roof of our drunken neighboors. he set the berry down on the point, but as he took a bite of it, the berry rolled down the roof. he would fly down and catch the blackberry in mid air as it fell off the roof and carry it back to the top where he tried again. he set it down, bit it, watch it roll down off the roof , and he caught it again. it would take him about 5 tries to finish a blackberry and after he was done he would get another berry and start the whole process again. i remember when i walked outside and saw his antics i would think, "oh not this guy again!" it may have been multiple mocking birds and he may have been letting it fall for fun, but it was one of the stupidest things i've ever seen.