■250 SYSTEM A TIG SYNOPSIS. — FA SSEBES — OSCINES. 



15. M. polyglot'tus. (Lat. polyglottus, tnany-toiigued ; from Gr. irdXvs, poliis, many, and yXwrra, 

 glotta, toiigiR'. Fig. 119.) Mocking-bird. ^, adult: Upper i)arts ashy-gray; lower parts 

 soiled white. Wiugs blaekish-brown, the primaries, M'ith the exception of the first, marked 

 with a large wiiite si)ace at the base, restricted ou the outer quills usually to half or less of 

 these feathers, but occupying nearly all of the iuner quills. The shorter white spaces show as 

 a conspicuous spot when the wing is closed, the longer inner ones being hidden by the second- 

 aries. The coverts are also tipped and sometimes edged with white ; and there may be much 

 edging or tipping, or both, of the quills themselves. Outer tail-feathers white ; next two 

 pair white, except on the outer web; next pair usually white toward the end, and the rest 

 sometimes tipped with white. Bill and feet black, the former often pale at the base below ; 

 soles dull yellowish. Length about 10.00, but ranging from 9.50 to 11.00; extent about 

 14.00 (13.00 to 15.00); wing 4.00-1.50; tail 4.50-5.00; bill 0.75; tarsus 1.25. 9, adult: 

 Similar, but the colors less clear and pure ; above rather bro\vnish than grayish-ash, below 

 sometimes quite brownish- white, at le&st on the breast. Tail and wings with less white than 

 as above described. But the gradation in these features is by imperceptible degrees, so that 

 there is no infallible color-mark of sex. In general, the clearer and purer are the colors, and 

 the more white there is on the wings and tail, the more likely is the bird to be a ^ and prove 

 a good singer. The 9 is also smaller than the $ on an average, being generally under and 

 rarely over 10 inches in length, with extent of wings usually less than 14.00 ; the wing little 

 if any over 4.00, the tail about 4.50. Young: Above decidedly brown, and below speckled 

 with dusky. IT. S. from Atlantic to Pacific, southerly ; rarely N. to New England, and not 

 common N. of 88°, though kno%vn to reach 42° ; thronging the groves of the South Atlantic 

 and Gulf States. Nest in bushes and low trees, bulky and inartistic, of twigs, grasses, leaves, 

 etc.; eggs 4-6, measuring on an average 1.00 X 0.75, bluish-green, heavily speckled and 

 freckled with several brownish shades. Two or three broods are generally reared each season, 

 which in the South extends from March to August. When taken from the nest, the '' prince 

 of musicians" becomes a contented captive, and has been known to live many years in con- 

 finement. Naturally an accomplished songster, he proves an apt scholar, susceptible of improve- 

 ment by education to an astonishing degree ; but there is a great difference with individual 

 birds in this respect. 



16. M. carolinen'sis. (Of Carolina : Carols, Charles IX., of France.) (Figs. 37, 120.) Cat- 

 bird. ^ 9 : Slate-gray, paler and more grayish-plumbeous below; crown of head, tail, bill, 

 and feet black. Quills of the wing blackish, edged with the body-color. Under tail-coverts 

 rich dark chestnut or mahogany-color. Length 8.50-9.00; extent 11.00 or more ; wing 3.50- 

 3.75 ; tail 4.00 ; biU 0.66 ; tarsus 1.00-1.10. Young: Of a more sooty color above, with little 

 or no distinction of a black cap, and comparatively paler below, where the color has a soiled 

 brownish cast. Crissum dull rufous. U. S. and adjoining British Provinces. West to the 

 Rocky Mts., and even Washington Terr., but chiefly Eastern; migratory, but resident in the 

 Southern States, and breeds throughout its range ; nest of sticks, leaves, bark, etc., in bushes; 

 eggs 4-6, deep greenish-blue, not spotted. An abundant and familiar inhabitant of our 

 groves and briery tracts, remarkable for its harsh cry, like the mewing of a cat (whence its 

 name), but also possessed, like all its tribe, of eminent vocal ability. 



4. HAKPORHYN'CHUS. (Gr. apTn/, harpe, a sickle; pvyxos, rhygchos, heak ; i. e., bow- 

 billed.) Thrashers. Bill of indeterminate size and shape, ranging from one extreme, in 

 which it is straight and shorter than the head, to the other, in which it exceeds the head 

 in length and is bent like a bow (see figs. 121-125). Feet large and strong, indicating terres- 

 trial habits; tarsus strongly scutcllate anteriorly, about equalling or slightly exceeding in 

 length the middle toe with its claw. Wings and tail rounded, the latter decidedly longer 

 than the former. Rictus with Avell developed bristles. Viewing only the extreme shapes of 

 the bill, as in H. rufus and H. erissalis, it would not seem consistent with the minute subdivis- 



