Mockingbirds have been maligned as mere thieves who pilfer tunes and miss the main musical point of their stolen songs. But to my ear, this Delaware bird sang Carolina wren the way Bette Midler does the Andrews Sisters. It may be true that he was a shameless sampler, strewing about phrases from titmouse, chickadee, the sweet liquid song of a wood thrush, but he tucked them into his song the way Shostakovich weaves his symphony around a simple folk melody.
Nice pop and classical music analogies there!
