CAT BIRDS AND MOCK-THRUSHES. 



so powerful or to plaintive, but it really is beautiful 



wlu-ii lie inukes up hi.s mind to sit down to it." 



My l>ir<l lit'gan t<i sing properly on Munh 27tli, 1895, 

 and from that time forward lie was one of the greatest 

 attractions of my collection. His song was a continuous 

 musical entertiiinment, consisting of parts of the tongs 

 and calls of the Song Thrush, Blackbird, Virginian 

 Cardinal, Linnet, Tientsin Lark, Oxeye Tit. and even 

 the distant cawing of the Rook, so charmingly com- 

 niinj'led that the whole had a mcst pleasing effect upon 

 the listener. 



I was unfortunate enough to lose my first bird ahout 

 1896, and for three or four years 1 wa.s without a 

 specimen of this prince of songsters ; then a lady wrote 

 from Paris, saying thiit she was about to travel and 

 wishixi to find a home for her pet Mocking-bird ana a 

 pied Hhirkbird, the former an old friend, and asking 

 if I wiJiiUl have them. Of cour.se, I gratefully accepted, 

 as I had two large cages vacant. The Blackbird did 

 not live long, but the Mocking-bird is ttill in full song, 

 though evidently now a very old bird with terribly 

 crippled claws ; he was by no means a young bird when 

 he came into my hands, and six or seven years make a 

 difference when a bird is on the down-grade. 'I'his bira 

 is a fine singer, but does not approach his predecessor 

 for variety of execution, nor does he mimic so accurately 

 the songs of the birds around him. but the Thrush and 

 Blackbird are well represented in his performance, i 

 fancy the Thrush-like commencement of a Mocking- 

 bird's song must be natural to it. The species wao 

 bred by Mr. Farrar in 1901. 



S.\TrRXi.\K MoCKiNCJ BIRD iMimif mturinnni:}. 



Upper surface brownish-grey, wit'i fawn-whiti.'^h lores 

 and eyebrow stripe ; ear-coverts blackish ; feathers of 

 I>ack with darker centres and pale margins; l>i'nd ot 

 wing white ; all the wing-coverts with yellowish ashy 

 borders; flights clear grey below; outermost tail 

 feathers ■white tipped ; whole under surface yellowish 

 ash, the throat whiter; flank fe.ithers with dark sliaft 

 streaks; bill biowiiisli horn grey; eyes brown; feet 

 greyish brown. According to Burmeitter the ma.le 

 may W distinguished by a, noticeable iiisty vfilowish 

 tint, especially on the under surface, and much 

 narrower, more i>ointed tail feathe.TS with longer white 

 tips. The gromid colour of the femile is greyer, and 

 the form of the tail featheis more obtuse. The young 

 bird, according to von Pelzeln, shows broad paJe red- 

 dish borders to the feathers of the middle 

 and lower back, pale rust-coloured borders <o 

 the wing coverts, and strongly-spotted under sur- 

 face. The egg is greenish, with rust-red spots, 

 mast dense at the small end, according to Burmeister. 

 Habitat, Campos of Inner Brazil, not rare at Lagoa 

 Santa. According to Burmeister. tliis species runs 

 much on the earth, and thereby acquires quite a red- 

 disli yellow abdomen, due to the loamy dust adhering 

 to it; the tail feathers also are usually dirty and worn. 

 The in St is built in bushes on the Campos, ajid contains 

 four to five eggs. 



Fockelmann, of Hamburg, sa;»-B that there are some 

 admirable songsters among these Campos Mocking 

 Birds, and theiefore. as Dr. Russ says, it is the more 

 to be regretted that they are so rare in the market. 

 Thj prcstnt &i>ecies ha.s appeared twice in the list of our 

 Zcologiial Societ}-, but has not yet reached the 

 Amsterdam Gardens. At a great exhibition of the 

 Xatural Histon- Society at St. Galkn, in 1878, a single 

 specimen was offered at the price of sixty francs.* 



* Nnss describes the Leaden-grey Mockiiig-bird (Mimufi liriduf) 

 from Urnzil, and saya that it has only been brought home twice : by 

 Pi'ince Ferdinind of Bu'garia on his return from Brazil ; and one 

 example c; roe also to the Amsterdam Gardens. 



CAT BIRDS (Galeoseoptes). 



Amkhkan C.\t Bird (Oaleoscojtles carolinemis). 



Upper surface slate grey ; crown and nape brownish 

 to deep black; wing coverts black brown with leaden 

 grey borders, a large white patch on the w ings ; tail 

 feathers black, the two outermost white- bordered at the 

 tips or wholly white, the .-econd pair usually white- 

 KiKitted on both sides; Ixxly below clear ash grey, the 

 feathers of the sides tipped with leaden grey ; throat 

 clear grey or whitish ; under tail covei-ts bright chest- 

 nut brown ; bill black ; eyes dark brown to yellow ; 

 feet greenish to blackish brown. Feniide rather 

 en;aller, the white patch <m the underside of the wing 

 biualler and duller, and the while on the outer tail 

 feathers more restricted. Young distinctly brown grey 

 above, below with dark spots. Habitat, Northern 

 States of North America, from the Atlantic to the 

 Pacific, but commonett in the Kasteni States; it ranges 

 noithwaids into Canada and south-westwards to Texas. 



In his work on the "Land Birds of California" (1870), 

 speaking of this species as cuminon on the Columbia 

 river, J. CI. ttooper says :—" There, as elsewhere, it 

 inhabits low thickets or detached bushes, making its 

 nest of strips of bark, twigs, roots, and such odd scraps 

 as bits of rag, snake skin, newspaper, etc. The eggs 

 are four or five, and of a deep emerald green, without 

 sp:>ts. Their food consists of insects, worms, fru'ts, 

 and berries. The ordinary call note re.'iemblts the mew 

 of a cat, but it has a very agreeable song, in some 

 respects imitating the notes of other birds." 



Dr. Russ fills page after pnge with descriptions of this 

 bird and its song, but the above gives all neces-sarj- 

 inforniation as to its wild life. 



In The Avicultural Maqazuie, 1st series. Vol. 8, 

 pp. 226-8 and 285-7, the Rev'. C. D. Farrar has given an 

 acoount of his success in breeding Cat Birds in cap- 

 tivity:— "An old Blackbird's nest was pulled to 

 pieces, and with these materials the hen built in a 

 bush. The net was beautifully conslnicted in three 

 days, and three eggs were laid (which Mr. Farrar 

 describes as exactly ref^emb'.ing those of the Hedge 

 Sparrow in colour) ; the eggs began to hatch in 

 about twelve days, but the young of that nest all died. 

 About a week later the hen repaired the nest, and 

 was soon laying again ; three eggs were deposited, of 

 which two were hatched and were succe.ssfully reared. 

 They left the nes-t when about thirteen days' old full 

 fledged, excepting for the lack of tails." Mr. Farrar 

 say.^ they can onlv be reared upon living insect food ; he 

 does not say -whether he tried the parents with carth- 

 wotms; but judging from my experience of the various 

 Thrushes, both wild and in captivity. I should imagine 

 that the.^e would have been acceptable. 



MOCK=THRUSHES. 



Browx Mock-Thrtsh (Ilarpurhynchus rufus). 



Male above yellowish to clear brownish red ; head and 

 sides of neck "clear reddish yellow; lores and eyebrow- 

 stripe deeper yellowish red ; a moustachial stripe from 

 the lower mandible formed of the characteristic Thrush- 

 like triangular spots; wings rust-rsd, with one darker 

 and two Tighter transverse bands ; flights brown, with 

 darker margins to the inner webs ; miildle and greater 

 coverts with the outer portions brownish black, and a 

 terminal yellowish white spot (forming the two pale 

 bands) ; under wing-coverts reddish brown ; tail-feathers 

 washed with the same colour, but tipped with whiti.=h; 



