iat 
74 TURDIDZ, THRUSHES.—GEN. 2, 3. 
2. Genus OREOSCOPTES Baird. 
Mountain Mockingbird. Brownish ash, below whitish, shaded behind, 
thickly spotted with dusky; 8; wing nearly 5; tail 4. Rocky Mountain 
region of United States. Avp., ii, 194, pl. 139; Bp., 347. . MonraNnus. 
3. Genus MIMUS Boie. 
Mockingbiri.  Ashy gray, below white, slightly shaded across breast 
and along sides, wings and tail blackish, former with two white bars, and 
much white at base of primaries, latter with 1-3 outer feathers partly or 
wholly white. The g is known by the much greater extent of white on the 
primaries, which is the mark of a “singer,” as he is called, the ? being 
songless, in captivity at any rate; young birds are spotted below the first 
autumn. 9-10 long; wing about 4; tail about 5 (nearly 6 in var. from 
California). Southern U. 8. to Massachusetts, but not common north of 
38°; thronging the groves of the South Atlantic and Gulf States. Two or 
three broods are generally reared each season. When taken from the nest, 
the mockingbird becomes a contented captive; and has been known to live 
many years in confinement. Naturally an accomplished songster, he proves 
an apt scholar, susceptible of improvement by education to an astonishing 
degree ; but there is a great difference with individual birds in this respect. 
Wuts., ii, 14, pl. 10, fig. 1; Avp., ii, 187, pl. 137; Bp., 344. potyeLorrus. 
Fic. 16. Mockingbird; about 3 natural size. 
Catbird. Blackish-ash, or dark slate; crown and tail black; under tail 
coverts chestnut. 8-9 long; wing 32, tail 4. Eastern United States; also 
Washington Territory, Mexico, Central America and Bermuda. An abund- 
ant and familiar inhabitant of our groves and briery tracts, remarkable for 
its harsh ery, like the mewing of a cat (whence its name), but also possessed 
a 
