Genus XXXII. TURDUS. THRUSH. 

 Species I. T. POLYGLOTTUS. 



MOCKING-BIED. 



[Plate X. Fig. 1.] 



Mimic Thrush, Lath. Syn. in., p. 40, No. 42. — Arct. Zool. ii., No. 194. — Tardus 

 polyglottus, Linn. Syst. i., p. 293, No. 10. — Le grand Moqueur, Briss. Orn, ii., p. 

 266, 29.— Burr. Ois. in., p. 325. PL jEnl. .558, fig. 1.— Singing-bird, Mocking- 

 bird, or Nightingale, Rah. Syn. p. 64, No. 5, p. 185, 31. — Sloan, Jam. ii., 306, 

 No. Si.— The Mock-bird, Catesb. Car. i., PL 27. 



This celebrated and very extraordinary bird, in extent and variety 

 of vocal powers, stands unrivalled by tbe ■whole feathered songsters of 

 this or perhaps any other country ; and shall receive from us, in this 

 place, all that attention and respect which superior merit is justly 

 entitled to. 



Among the many novelties which the discovery of this part of the 

 western continent first brought into notice, we may reckon that of the 

 Mocking-bird ; which is not only peculiar to the new .world, but inhabits 

 a very considerable extent of both North and South America ; having 

 been traced from the states of New England to Brazil ; and also among 

 many of the adjacent islands. They are, however, much more numer- 

 ous in those states south, than in those north, of the river Delaware ; 

 being generally migratory in the latter, and resident (at least many of 

 them) in the former. A warm climate, and low country, not far from 

 the sea, seem most congenial to their nature ; accordingly we find the 

 species less numerous to the west than east of the great range of the 

 Alleghany, in the same parallels of latitude. In the severe winter of 

 1808-9, I found these birds, occasionally, from Fredericksburg in Vir- 

 ginia, to the southern parts of Georgia ; becoming still more numerous 

 the farther I advanced to the south. The berries of the red cedar, 

 myrtle, holly, Cassine shrub, many species of smilax, together with gum 

 berries, gall berries, and a profusion of others with which the luxuriant 

 swampy thickets of those regions abound, furnish them with a perpetual 

 feast. Winged insects, also, of which they are very fond, and remarkably 

 expert at catching, abound there even in winter, and are an additional 

 inducement to residency. Though rather a shy bird in the Northern 

 States, here he appeared almost half domesticated, feeding on .the cedars 

 and among the thickets of smilax, that lined the roads, while I passed 



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