634 



MOCKING BIRD. 



common along the sides of the Aileghanej Mountains at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in 



May, 1870. Here the ljii\l8 were in t'nil song 

 and were displaying the singular habit of dropping 

 downward through the air, dancing about on the 

 top of a bush with outstretched wings as tiiey ut- 

 tereil their finely given melodious strains. Wiien 

 in company with my friend, Mr. C. W. Chauibcrlnin 

 at Scituate, Massachusetts, the first week in June, 

 1891, I observed a specimen of the Yellow-lireast- 

 ed Chat perched on the top of a bush. Tiiis bird 

 soon began to sing and also entertained us with 

 its odd aerial dance. 



The distribution (jf this tine species hi New 

 England is rather local, thus they breed regularly 

 in Southern Connecticut, about Lvini, Massachu- 

 setts and hi Berkshire County those being its 

 northern limits, but is rare and scattering south of 

 these points. 



Fi'^. Kt.'i. Or<,fans ofYcll'iw-breasted 

 Chat. A. fiiit; IS, cucca ; c. digestive or- 

 gans : s. stum.ach : p. pancreas : d. (tu-nle- 

 tunii ; 0. provoiiticulus : k- gullet : 1, intes- 

 tine; D. tongue. The spleen lies partly on 

 the stomach. 



F.VMILY TROGLODYTIDAE MOCKING BIRDS, THRUSHES, WRENS ETC.^^ 



Bdl, usually long, with the upper mandible more or less curved. Tarsus, covered with several scales in 

 front- First primary, well developed e.xterding beyond the tips of the coverts. It is with some hesitation 

 that I include the Mocking Birds and Thrushes in tlie same fomily as the Wrens : T have not however, suffi- 

 cient material at hand at present to decide the matter cpiite to my satisfaction, therefore follow the more 

 recent opinions upon the subject. 



GENUS. MIMUS. THE MOCKING BIRDS. 



Gen. Cii. Bill, shorter than the head ; straiglit, but with the tips of the upper mandible curved, and 

 but slightly notched.' The sternums differ from those of the thrushes proper in being broader, and in hav- 

 inc^ a lower keel ; the sternum being twice as broad as the keel is high. The marginal indentations are also 

 shallower ; being only as deep as one-third the length of the keel. Wings, a little shorter than the tail, 

 which is unusually graduated. These characters are framed so as to include the Cat Bird, as I can find no 

 feartures wherebv this species can be separated generically from the true Mocking Bird, unless it be in 

 color, but surely this slight difference must be considered as simple sub generic. 



MIMUS POLYGLOTTUS. 

 Mocking Bird. 



Mimus polyglottus Boie. Isis, Oct. 1826, !I72. 

 DESCRIPTION. 

 Sp. Ch. Form, slender Tail, long. Bill, moderate, rather wide at base. Tarsus, distinctly scutel- 

 late. Sternum, strongly built. Tongue, rather deeply cleft, with the forked portion ciliated on the ends and 

 outer sides. Color. Adult. Above, ashy. Wings, brown ; base of all the primaries, their tips and edges, 

 and tips of secondaries, wing coverts, and the entire spurious wing, white ; the latter, however, has central 

 stripes of brown. The white e.K tends over more than half the length of the inner quill feathers, but is more 



