OREOSCOPTES J^IONTANUS, MOUiXTAIN MOCKINGBIRD. 7 



bell-like notes, resonant, distinct, yet soft and pf nndescribable sadness, • 

 fall upon tbe ear as we press through the tangled undergrowth beneath 

 the shade of stately trees, we pause involuntarily to listeu to music that 

 for the moment makes us forget the terrible torture of body and vexa- 

 tion of spirit that we endure continually from the innumerable hosts of 

 the scourge — musquitoes. 



The 2Ierida minor of Swainson is eertaiuly this species; every point 

 of the diagnosis, as well as the j)late, points to fiiscescens. M. ivilsoni 

 of the same author is sicainsoni. M. snUtaria of the same work is pallasij 

 the plate erroneously marked "35" for 37. I make these deter uiina- 

 tious, which difier somewhat from those of Professor Baird, who assigns 

 the plates otherwise. In my copy of the Fauna, plate "35" (37), the 

 tawny of the rump and other points of coloration are certainly little like 

 those of sicainsoni. 



Mr. Allen has erroneously included T. iistulatus among the synonyms 

 of fiiscescens in his Memoirs on lowan and Floridan Birds, above cited ; 

 l)ut I am happy to be able to state that he now endorses the view pre- 

 sented in tiie "Key." He also informs me that Wilson's Thrush, which 

 was met with in considerable numbers at several points between Denver 

 and South Park, chiefly frequented the dense thickets near the streams, 

 and were hence difficult to observe or procure, although easily recog- 

 nized by their song. None were met with in or about South Park, or 

 above an altitude of about 9,000 feet. 



Subfamily Miming : 2IocTcing Thrushes. 

 OREOSCOPTES MONTANUS, (Towns.) Bd. 



Mountain Mockingbird. 



Orjjheits montanus, Towns., Jouiu. Acad. Pbila. 1837, 192.— AuD., Syn. 1839, 89.— AuD., 

 B. Am. ii, 1841, 194, pi. 139. 



Turdus montanus, AuD., Oru. Biog. iv, 1838, 437, pi. .369, f. 1. 



Miinus munlanus, Bp., List, 1838, 17. — Bp., Consp. Av. i, 1850, 276. 



Oreoscoptes montanus, Bd., B. N. A. 1858, 347 ; Rev. 1864, 42.— Scl., P. Z. S. 1859, 340 ; Cat. 

 1862, 8.— Hayd., Rep. 1862, 163.— Coop., Pr. Cal. Acad. 1870, 75 (Colorado 

 River) ; B. Cal. i, 1870, 13.— Stkv., U. S. Geol. Surv. Ter. 1870, 464 (Wyomin-r).— 

 Merriam, ibid. 1872, 670, 705 (Utah).— Allex, Bull. M. C. Z. iii, 1872, 174 

 (western edge of tbe Colorado Plains). — Hold., Pr. Bost. Soc. 1872, 194 (Black 

 Hills).— COUES, Key, 1872, 74, 



Hob. — United States, from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific ; south to Mexico and 

 Cape St. Lucas ; east to Fort Laramie and the Black Hills. 



This species bears no slight resemblance to the young of the common Mockingbird, 

 which is, like it, spotted below, and for which it might be mistaken upon superficial ex- 

 amination. It is, however, much more heavily and sharply marked with triangular 

 spots on nearly all the under parts, and differs, besides, in its generic characters. The 

 bill is slenderer and compai'ativeJy longer; the wings are relatively much longer and 

 more iiointcd, equaling or exceeding the tail, which is little rounded, the outer feathers 

 being only about i inch shorter thau the middle ones. Length about 8.00 ; wing 4.00 ; 

 tail rather more ; tarsus 1.15; bill, 0.65. 



Lieutenant Warren^s Expedition. — 8821, Black Hills. 



Laiev Expeditions. — 60447, 60711-19, various Wyoming localities; 61651-2, Salt Lake, 

 Utah; 



Dr. Hayden's specimen, from the Black mils, and Dr. Cooper's, from 

 Fort Laramie, probably indicate the extreme eastern range of the 

 si)ecies. Mr. Uoldeu's notice is corroborative j he found them rare in 



