TURDID^ — MIMINjE : MOCKING THRUSHES. 249 



genera, witli upward of forty recorded species, two-thirds of which are certaiuly genuine. 

 About one-half of these fall in Mimus alone ;. of Harporhynchus, nearly all the species occur 

 in the United States. In their general habits they resemble wrens as much as thrushes, 

 habitually residing in shrubbery near the ground, relying for concealment as much upon the 

 nature of tlieir resorts as upon their own activity and vigilance. They are all melodious, and 

 some, like tlie immortal mocking-bird, are as famous for their powers of mimicry as for the 

 brilliant execution of their proper songs. In compensation for this great gift of nmsic, perhaps 

 that they may not grow too proud, they are plainly clad, grays and browns being the prevail- 

 ing colors. The nest is generally built with little art, in a bush, and the eggs, two to six in 

 number, are blue or green, plain or speckled. 



Analysis of Genera. 



Smallest : bill shortest ; wings about equal to tail. Adults speckled below Oroscoptes 2 



Medium : bill moderate ; wings a little shorter than tail. Adults plain below Mimus 3 



Largest : bill immoderate ; wings much shorter than tail. Plain or spotted below . . , Harporhynchus 4 



2. OROSCOP'TES. (Gr. opos, oros, a mountain, and aKaTrrrjs, scoptes, a mimic). Mountain 

 Mockers. Wings and tail of equal lengths, the former more pointed than in other genera of 

 MimincE, with the 1st quill not half as long as the 2d, which is between the 6th and 7th ; 

 the 3d, 4th, and 5th about equal to one another, and forming the point of the wing. Tail 

 nearly even, its feathers but slightly graduated. Tarsus longer than middle toe and clixw, 

 anteriorly distinctly scutellate. BOl much shorter than head, not curved, wdth obsolete notch 

 near the end. Rictal bristles well developed, the longest reaching beyond the nostrils. 

 0. niontanus is the only known species. 



14. O. monta'nus. (Lat. montanus, of a mountain.) Mountain Mocking-bird. Sage 

 Thrasher. (^ 9 , in summer : Above, grayish or brownish-ash, the feathers with ob- 

 soletely darker centres. Below, whitish, more or less tinged with pale buffy-brown, every- 

 where marked with triangular dusky spots, largest and most crowded across the breast, small 

 and sparse, sometimes wanting, on the throat, lower belly, and ciissum. Wings fuscous, 

 with much whitish edging on all the quills, and two white bands formed by the tips of the 

 greater and median coverts. Tail like the wings ; the outer feather edged and broadly tipped, 

 and all the rest, excepting usually the middle pair, tipped with white in decreasing amount. 

 Bill and feet black or blackish, the former often with pale base. Length about 8.00 ; wing 

 and tail, each, about 4.00; tarsus 1.12; bill 0.75. Young: Dull brownish above, consi^ic- 

 uously streaked with dusky ; the markings below streaky and diflFuse. Plains to the Pacific, 

 U. S. ; also Texas and Lower California; an interesting species, resembling an undersized 

 young mocking-bird, abundant in the sage-brush of the W. Nest on ground or in low bushes ; 

 eggs usually 4, 1.00 X 0.72, light greenish-blue, heavily marked with brown and neutral tint. 



3. MI'MUS. (Lat. mimus, a mimic.) Mocking-birds. Bill much shorter than head, scarcely 

 curved as a whole, but with gently-curved commissure, notched near the end. Rictal vibrissfe 

 well developed. Tail rather longer than wings, rounded, the lateral feathers being considerably 

 graduated. Wings rounded. (Tarsal scuteUa 

 sometimes obsolete.) Tarsi longer than the mid- 

 dle toe and claw. Of this genus there are two 

 well marked sections (represented by the mock- 

 ing-bird and cat-bird respectively), which may 

 be distinguished by color : — 



Mimus. — Above ashy-brown, below white; 

 lateral tail-feathers and bases of primaries white. 

 (Tarsal scutella always distinct.) Fig. U!0. - Catbird, nat. s^izu. ' ^Ad. nat. del. E. C.) 



Galeoscoptes. — Blackish-ash, scarcely paler below ; crown and tail black, unvaried ; 

 crissum rufous. (Tarsal scutella sometimes obsolete.) 



