EASTERN MOCKINGBIRD 299 



gether during the mated season or during the winter season if they 

 remained together on a conmaon territory. I saw it once in fall be- 

 tween a pair that mated for three consecutive seasons but that separated 

 and defended individual but adjoining territories in fall and winter. 

 The dance in the latter case seemed to be the severing of family ties 

 for that season as they did not trespass on each other's territory. In 

 spring, when he resumed singing, they used the two areas together." 



Probably such a statement will be productive of argument. Cer- 

 tainly it is an original belief, but one held by an observer who has put 

 much time and study on the species, as her "Fall and Winter Behavior 

 of Mockingbirds" (193G) will testify. Her "territory boundary -line 

 demonstration," however, appears never to result in actual combat, 

 which might reasonably be expected on some occasions if an act of 

 defense was the basis. It is difficult to see exactly how the tactics em- 

 ployed could be very effective in a combative sense, while it is easy 

 to understand that the display of wings and tail, which accompanies 

 the dance, could be an effort to impress a female with the charms of 

 the prospective consort. Lack of actual contact in a demonstration 

 is not, of course, conclusive by any means of the performance's not be- 

 ing a territory defense, but it is suggestive. 



Nesting. — Domestic duties with the mocker are a serious under- 

 taking and never marked with the slackness characteristic of some 

 avian species. The nest is constructed by both sexes, and usually the 

 male works as hard as the female. The materials used vary consider- 

 ably, being for the most part small dead twigs. Grass and rootlets 

 form the lining. String is frequently used and sometimes skeleton- 

 ized leaves. Cotton is often found in the nest, depending on locality. 

 The completed nest is a rather bulky affair and lasts well ; old nests of 

 two or three seasons past still retain their shape to a surprising degree. 

 Some nests are rather small in circumference. 



The site is almost invariably at low elevations, with the great ma- 

 jority being 3 to 10 feet above ground. The writer cannot recall any 

 nest found by him (and he has seen them literally by the hundred) 

 that was over 20 feet high. Nonetheless, the mocker at times breaks 

 custom and ascends to elevations greater than 25 feet. E. H. Forbush 

 ( 1929) , for example, gives the range as "from 1 to 50 feet from ground." 

 In Florida, the mocker occasionally builds in clumps of Spanish moss 

 ( Tillandsia usneoides) , such sites being noted by A. H. Howell ( 1932) . 

 The writer has never seen an example of such a site in South Carolina, 

 the nest usually occupying a small bush or tree, such as various oaks, 

 or other stiff-twigged growth. 



The mocker is strongly partial to human habitation as a nesting site. 

 Garden vegetation, vines that climb about porches, shrubbery actually 

 against a house, and decorative plantings m the yard are often used. 

 It is fairly safe to say that, in parts of the South, the majority of the 



