298 BULLETIN 195, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



circumstances, and they verified the statements that appeared in the 

 paper. This is, I believe, the most northerly point at which the mock- 

 ingbird has been recorded on the continent." 



Courtshi'p. — As might be expected in so individualistic a species as 

 the mocker, its courtship procedure is a spectacular performance. At 

 least, that is what many have taken its characteristic actions to be. 

 These have been described as a "dance" and have been witnessed by 

 hundreds of observers all over the bird's range. It is well described 

 by Mrs. A. B. Harrington, of Dallas, Tex. (1923), as follows: "It 

 was a curious and most interesting performance. The first time they 

 danced exactly opposite each other. They faced each other about a 

 foot apart, hopped up and down, moving gradually to one side, then 

 back again, and so on. A second pair began their dance in the same 

 position, but first one hopped twice to one side, then the other followed 

 the first, which hopped again sideways and the other followed, al- 

 ways facing each other, then they moved back in the same manner to 

 where they started and repeated the performance. After each dance 

 was finished the birds flew off a short distance in opposite directions." 



W. M. Tyler (MS.) describes a similar performance witnessed near 

 Lake Okeechobee, Fla., in April 1941. He saw "two mockingbirds in 

 the roadway standing facing each other, close together, that is, a step 

 or two apart, with heads and tails held up high and feathers depressed 

 so that the legs looked very long and slim. They made dashes at each 

 other over and over with tense little darts, the attacked retreating a 

 step or two each time with prim, ballet-dancer-like movements. They 

 gave the impressions of putting on an act. Finally both flew off, one 

 following the other to a tree near at hand." 



In these two descriptions the dance terminated in one case by the 

 birds flying off in opposite directions, while in the other one bird fol- 

 lowed the other. The writer has witnessed this nonuniformity of 

 termination frequently, one occurring about as often as the other. 

 Many other written descriptions of this dance are available, but all 

 agree so closely that further repetition is without value. 



Tlie long-accepted belief that the dance is a courtship proceeding is 

 challenged, however, by Amelia R. Laskey, of Nashville, Tenn. (MS.) , 

 who has the following to say about it : "I hope when you write about 

 this interesting bird you will mention the 'dance' which bird books 

 continue to describe as a part of the courtship behavior. However, in 

 the years since I have been using color bands for sight identification 

 and have therefore been able to distinguish sexes, this dance has never 

 occurred except as a territory boundary -line demonstration, when the 

 occupants of adjoining territories are defending their respective do- 

 mains. It usually occurs between two males but may take place with 

 a male and a female as participants when each is holding fall and 

 winter territory. I have never observed a mated pair performing to- 



