Mockingbird WESTERN BIRDS 



GENUS MIMUS : WESTERN MOCKING- 

 BIRD. 



Western Mockingbird: Mimus polyglottos 

 leucopterus. 



FAMILY— THRASHERS, MOCKINGBIRDS, ETC. 



Probably no bird of the United States is so well 

 known as the Mockingbird. While many there are who 

 have never seen the bird, because of his marvelous vocal 

 powers his fame has spread the world over. 



The Mockingbird is a dweller of the southeastern part 

 of our country, ranging from eastern Nebraska, southern 

 Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Maryland south to 

 eastern Texas, southern Florida; sparingly to New York 

 and Massachusetts. 



In the southwestern United States a similar bird is 

 known as the Western Mockingbird. This bird breeds 

 chiefly from central California, southern Wyoming, 

 northwestern Nebraska, and western Kansas, south. 



These birds are long, slender, graceful creatures, that 

 measure about ten and one-half to eleven inches, the 

 tail being nearly half the length of the entire bird. It 

 is, also, the most expressive thing about him, being 

 carried well up and used in emphatic jerkings to accen- 

 tuate his varying moods. The upper parts are a light 

 gray, the under plumage being a soiled white; the wings 

 and tail are black, the former having a large white patch 

 which shows conspicuously in flight, and resolves itself 

 into one or two wing bars when closed ; the latter having 

 the two outer feathers white, and in the eastern species 

 the next two feathers have white tips. The tail is slightly 

 rounded and white, which shows only below when closed, 

 flares forth when the bird flies and is a good distinguish- 

 ing mark. The female has the wing patches slightly 



296 



