ISO BULLETIN 50, UNI TKI) STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Family MIMID/E. 



THE MOCKING BIRDS. * 



SleiKlcr-blllecl, ten-priiiiaried, iicutij)lantar Osciiies, with laro;e tenth 

 |>riinary, ol)viou.s rictal bristles (exeept in ('(dyptophilu^), loral feath- 

 ers without bristly points, iinier toe almost or wholly free at l)ase from 

 middle toe, and aerotarsium more or less distinetly scutellate." 



Bill exceedin^fly variable in shape and relative length, sometimes 

 only half as k)n<^ as head, sometimes lon<i;er than head, terete (exeept 

 in ('alyptopliilus, in whieh eonoid or su})euneate and much com- 

 pressed), usually faintly decurved terminally, sometimes (in species 

 of Toxostoitid) cons])icuously decurved, often straiojht or very nearly so; 

 base of gon^'s always distinctly anterior to anterior end of nasal fossa 

 (exce))t in ('alyptopJdlus); maxillary tomium more or le.>is distinctly 

 notched subterminally, except in genus Toxostoma only. Nasal fossae 

 rather short or small, largely occujned by the usually oval, ovate, or 

 elliptical (rarely roundish) or nearh' linear (horizontal) nostril, the lat- 

 ter always exposed, always overhung by membrane, usually in con- 

 tact ])osteri()rly with feathering of the frontal antiie. Feathers of 

 frontal antia' and loral region without bristly points, usually soft and 

 decuml)ent (erect and harsh only in Calypio philus) . Kictal bristles 

 obvious (except in Calypto pliilus) , never very strong, usually rather 

 weak and few in number. Wing variable as to relative length, but 

 always more or less roimded, the outermost (tenth) ])rimary usually 

 at least half as long as the ninth (nuich less than half as long as ninth 

 only in Oroscoptes), as long as longest secondaries onl}^ in (\ily pto plii- 

 lus. Tail variable in rela.tive length, ])ut never distinctly shorter 

 than distance from bend of wing to tip of longest secondaries, usually 

 about as long as the wing or somewhat longer, sometimes much 

 longer, always more or less rounded (graduated for nearly half its 

 length in Donacobius). Tarsus variable in relative length (extremes 

 being one-fourth as long as wing in Allenia and two-fifths as long in 

 Donacohius) , the aerotarsium always more or less distinctly scutellate, 

 though the divisions are sometimes indistinct or even obsolete;'' mid- 

 dle toe (without claw) always distinctly shorter than tarsus, usually 

 about two-thirds as long (decidedl}^ less than two-tiiirds as long only 

 in NesomiTnus, three-fourths as long only in Allenia and Margarops). 



oin a few genera (Galeoscoptes, Melanoptila, and Cinclocerthia) the divisions of the 

 aerotarsium are sometimes indistinct, but careful examination with a magnifying 

 glass will reveal them, at least along the anterior edge or inner side. The same is 

 true regarding the rictal bristles, which in some genera (notably Cinclotherthia) are 

 very small and not easily seen l)y tlic unaided eye. In CdhjplophihiK alone they 

 appear to l)e wholly wanting. 



b That is to say, not easy to discover without aid of a magnifying lens. 



