BIRDS IN A VILLAGE loi 



Mimus patachonicuSy 2l common resident species 

 in northern Patagonia, on the Atlantic side, very 

 abundant in places. He is a true mocking-bird 

 because he belongs to the genus Mimus, a branch 

 of the thrush family, and not because he mocks 

 or mimics the songs of other species, like others 

 of his kindred. Fie does not, in fact, m^imic the 

 set songs of others, although he often introduces 

 notes and phrases borrowed from other species 

 into his own performance. He sings in a sketchy 

 way all the year round, but in spring has a fuller 

 unbroken song, emitted with more power and 

 passion. For the rest of the time he sings to 

 amuse himself, as it seems, in a peculiarly 

 leisurely, and one may say, indolent manner, 

 perched on a bush, from time to time emitting 

 a note or two, then a phrase which, if it pleases 

 him, he will repeat two or three, or half a dozen 

 times. Then, after a pause, other notes and 

 phrases, and so on, pretty well all day long. This 

 manner of singing is irritating, like the staccato 

 song of our throstle, to a listener who wants 

 a continuous stream of song; but it becomes ex- 

 ceedingly interesting when one discovers that the 

 bird is thinking very much about his own music, 



