20 JVJSSTS AND EGGS OF BIRDS. 



female abandons the nest; but this idea is incorrect. On the contrary, 

 she redoubles her assiduity, and scarcely leaves the nest for a moment; 

 nor is it until she has been repeatedly forced from the dear spot, and 

 has been much alarmed by frequent intrusions that she finally and re- 

 luctantly leaves it. Nay, if the eggs are even on the eve of hatching, 

 she will almost suffer a person to lay hold of her. 



In nesting on the plains beyond the Rio Grande, these birds 

 often select a cactus ; and the structure they contrive, composed 

 of thorny twigs and briers, and placed in one of these plants, 

 is encircled on all sides by spear-like points, impervious to every 

 creature that has not wings. Often the only way for the col- 

 lector to possess himself of the nest is by hewing through the 

 abattis with his knife. The eggs are laid there the first week 

 of April, and young birds are first seen about May i. 



The eggs of the mocking-bird are four or five in number, 

 and are subject to extreme variations. The ground color may 

 be gray, grayish-green, or even buft', irregularly speckled and 

 blotched (sometimesi one style of marking, sometimes the 

 other, and often both mingled) with rusty brown and lavender 

 tints. The shape is not slender but the smaller end is consid- 

 erably pointed. In size the eggs range from 1.25 inches to 

 .90 of an inch in length, and in breadth from .72 to .67. An 

 average of a large number of specimens I find to be i.oi by 

 .72. In spite of these variations, the q^^ once recognized is 

 not easily mistaken afterwards. 



9. THE CAT-BIRD. 



MIMUS CAROLINENSIS (L.) Gray. 



Blackbird (Bermudas). 



The cat-bird is one of the most common and conspicuous of 

 all our birds. It breeds in summer over the ivhole Unioti 

 exec ft the Pacijic coast., northward to the Saskatchewan. 

 Among the earliest to show itself in the Northern states, it im- 

 mediatel}^ resorts to the thickets along the edges of the woods, 

 and to the quiet gardens of country villages. 



The cat-bird mates about May i, in the Middle and Western 

 states, and considerably later in the territories, and the pair 

 soon begin to look for a nesting place, with much care and de- 



