312 BULLETIN 195, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



powers, it need only be said that Mr. Whittle lists its imitations of 39 

 bird songs, 50 bird calls, and the notes of a frog and a cricket! 

 A. V. Goodpasture, of Nashville, Tenn. ( 1908) , says : 



The most obvious charms of his song, however, are the infinite variety and 

 range of his round, full, distinct notes, and the rapidity and enthusiasm with 

 which he trills his marvelous medley. * * * Four observations of his song, 

 taken at different times, will convey some idea of his performance: (1) In ten 

 minutes he chanjied his song of from one to four notes, forty-six times, and re- 

 peated each from one to nine times — an average of 3.41 times. (2) In three 

 minutes he changed his song twenty-eiglit times, repeated each from one to nine 

 times — average four times. (3) In one minute he changed thirteen times, re- 

 peated from one to nine times — average 6.3 times. (4) In ten minutes he 

 changed 137 times, repeated from one to twelve times — average 3.18 times. 



The call notes of the mockingbird have none of the melodious qual- 

 ity of its song; indeed the tone is quite the opposite. There is a grat- 

 ing harshness about them more suggestive of the bird's fighting tem- 

 per than of any quality of musical sweetness. Rendered into words 

 (never satisfactory, of course) the call note has been described as "a 

 harsh, grating 'chair' " by R. Hoffmann ; a "chuck" or "chick" and a 

 harsh, scolding note (almost veery-like) "whee-e-e" by J. A. Farley. 

 A. H. Howell calls it a "harsh chuck." 



There has doubtless been speculation on the ability of memory on 

 the part of the mocker in reproducing the songs of other birds. Since 

 there is very little in the literature concerning it, the following notes 

 from F. M. Weston (MS.) are of extraordinary interest : 



"March, 1912, Charleston, S. C. Mockingbird heard giving 'tucky- 

 tuck' call of summer tanager {Piranga rubra), then tanager song, 

 then call again, showing definite association of those two sounds. 

 Tanager had not yet arrived in spring migration, and recollection was 

 at least of 6 months' duration. 



"May 25, 1925, Pensacola, Fla. A mockingbird that has been sing- 

 ing in the neighborhood all spring imitates the full song of the field 

 sparrow {^Spizella pusilla) more than that of any other species. He is 

 so persistent about it that I can recognize him by that feature of his 

 performance. During my 10 years' residence here, I have yet to hear 

 the song of the field sparrow in this region. That particular mocking- 

 bird has spent some earlier period of his life in some other region, and 

 his memory is at least eight months long." 



Field marks. — Even its most ardent admirers could hardly call the 

 mockingbird handsome. It is trim, alert, and clean-cut but not strik- 

 ing in plumage and is quite plain in appearance. At rest, the long tail 

 is diagnostic, and the conspicuous white wing patches show to advan- 

 tage in flight and can also be seen while the bird is perched. There is 

 a decided general resemblance to the loggerhead shrike {Lanius ludo- 

 vicianus), which had led to the latter's being known in some localities 

 as the "French mockingbird." However, the mocker is a darker gray 



