22 SINGING BIRDS— OSCINES. 



at a long distance, and very watchful. They winter near the river, probably 

 in some of the bushy canons cliietly, and seemed to have gone out of the val- 

 ley in May, wlieu I found them quite common along the Mojave Ei\-er, and 

 westward to San Diego, but still too wild to slioot. They undoubtedly, also, 

 ■winter near San Diego, as I have found tliuni common there in February, 

 and tliey are said to migrate nortli in small numbers as far as Salinas Valley, 

 near Monterey, which is about as far nortli as they have been found in the 

 Colorado and San Joaquin Valleys. 



They are generally found in the^•icinity of the thickets of Cactus {Opuntia), 

 both the wild and cultivated species, on the fruit of wliich they feed much 

 of the time, and •wliich furnishes them with shelter also. I have not been 

 able to discover their nest, but it is probably veiy similar to that of the 

 Eastern M. puhjghttus. That bird builds in a thorny bush or thick tree a 

 nest formed of twigs, leaves, and grass, with a thick lining of root-fibres. 

 Their eggs are four or five, pale green, with blotches of brown scattered nearly 

 all over, and they raise two broods annually. (Nuttall.) I have seen similar 

 nests without eggs, in this State. 



Their brilliant and endless powers of imitation are too well known to re- 

 quire special description. Most of their song is made up of the notes of 

 other birds, and whatever noises they hear around them. They are fre- 

 quently brought from San Pedro in cages, and have then all their habits of 

 mimicry unimpaired. ■ 



Genus GALEOSCOPTES, Cabanis. 



Galeoscojites, Cabanis, Mus. Ilciti. I. 1850, 52. 



Cn.\R. Bill shorter tlian tlic head, rather broad at base ; wings a little shorter than the 

 tail, rounded ; seeondaries well developed ; fourth and fifth quills longest ; third and si.xth 

 little shorter ; fii-st aud ninth about equal, and about as long as the secondaries ; fii-st quill 



G. Carolmtttsis. 



