VERTEBRATES : BIRDS. 



as long or longer than the head, slightly notched, or not 

 at all ; the wings short, concave, and rounded, the tarsi 

 long, and generally strongly scutellate. This is an exten- 

 sive family, and embraces forms which at first seem to 

 differ greatly, but which are now regarded as related in 

 their most essential characteristics. 



The Genus Mimus has the bill shorter than the head, 

 decurved from the base, and distinctly notched. 



Fig . II2 . The Mocking-Bird, 



M.polyglottus, Boie, of 

 the Southern States, is 

 nine and a half inches 

 long, the wing four 

 and a half inches ; 

 olive gray above, whit- 

 ish beneath, the wing 

 and tail black, the base 

 of the primaries and 



the tip of the tail white. This bird imitates with ease 

 the songs and notes of all the birds he hears. Audubon 

 considers the singing of our Mocking-Bird superior to that 

 of the Nightingale. 



The Cat Bird, M. carolinensis, Gray, of the United 

 States east of the Missouri, is less than nine inches long, 

 the wing over three and a half inches ; the general color 

 dark plumbeous ; the under tail coverts dark brownish- 

 chestnut. In spring its song is exceedingly varied, mel- 

 low, and sweet. It also possesses a remarkable power of 

 imitating the notes of other birds, and has been heard to 

 imitate perfectly a strain of Yankee Doodle. Sometimes 

 it mews or yawls like a cat, and in a most disagreeable 

 manner, which greatly detracts from its proper estima- 

 tion; because all do not know that at times it sends forth 

 the sweetest music. The nest is generally built in low 

 bushes, and composed of dry twigs and grass without, 



