MIMUS PATACHONICUS. 7 



7. MIMUS PATACHONICUS (d'Orb. et Lafr.). 

 (PATAGONIAN MOCKING-BIRD.) 



Mimus patachonicus, Scl. et Salv. NomencL p. 3 ; Hudson, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 538 

 (Rio Negro) ; Dumford, Ibis, 1877, p. 31 (Chupat) ; During, E.cp. al Rio 

 Nef/ro, ZooL p. 36 (R. Colorado) ; Sharpe, Cat. S, vi. p. 352. Mimus thenca, 

 13 iinn. La-Plata Reise, ii. p. 475 (Mendoza) ? 



Description. Above and beneath grey, paler on the under surface, and tinged 

 with rufous on the belly ; throat and mark over the eye white ; wings black, 

 the outer webs of the feathers edged with white and grey ; tail black, tipped 

 with white ; bill and feet black ; eye olive-green : total length 9'2 inches, wing 

 4*2, tail 4*0. Female similar, but smaller in size and lighter in colour. 



Hab. Northern Patagonia. 



The Patagonian Mocking-bird, which I met with during my sojourn 

 on the Rio Negro of Patagonia in 1871, closely resembles the species just 

 described, but is smaller, the plumage is of a darker grey, and the irides 

 are also of a darker green. It is a common bird, resident, lives alone or 

 with its mate, feeds on insects and berries, and in its manner of flight 

 and habits is like Mimus modulator. The nest is made in the centre of 

 a bush of thorns and sticks, and lined with dry grass, cow-hair, or other 

 soft material ; and the eggs are four in number, bluntly pointed, and 

 thickly marked with dark flesh-coloured spots. When the nest is 

 approached the parent birds come close to the intruder, often perching 

 within a yard of his head, but without uttering any sound, differing in 

 this respect from M. modulator. 



The song of the Patagonian bird is in character like that of the 

 northern species, the variety of its notes being apparently infinite ; there 

 are, however, some differences worth mentioning. The singing of the 

 Patagonian species is perhaps inferior, his voice being less powerful, while 

 his mellow and clear notes are constantly mingled with shrill ones, re- 

 sembling the cries of some of the Dendrocolaptine birds. While incapable 

 of notes so loud or so harsh as those of the northern bird, or of changes so 

 wild and sudden, he possesses even a greater variety of soft notes. Day 

 after day for many months I have heard them singing, yet never once 

 listened to tbem for any length of time without hearing some note or 

 phrase I bad never heard before. The remarks I have made concerning 

 the Calandria's mocking-faculties also apply to this bird : but though 

 he does not actually repeat the notes and songs of other species, he 

 certainly does mock the notes of individuals of his own species; for 

 it must be borne in mind that no two individuals sing quite alike, and 

 that tbe same bird constantly introduces new notes into his song, and 

 never repeats his notes in the same order. I have often observed that 

 when a bird, while singing, emits a few of these new notes, he seems 



