472 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



C. Bui. 6:125); Flatbush, Long Island, November 1884 (Dutcher, 

 Auk, 5:183); Millers Place, Long Island, May 10, 1887 (A. H. Helme); 

 Shelter island, April 29, 1891 (W. W. Wbrthington) ; Croton-on-the- 

 Hudson, winter of 1899 (Miss Annie Van Cortlandt) ; Floral Park, Long 

 Island, August 27, 1900 (Childs, Auk, 17:390); Rockaway Beach, Septem- 

 ber 14, 1902, a young bird (Braislin, Auk, 20:53). In the interior of New 

 York it has also been taken, especially in the western portion of the State. 

 J. L. Davison reports a specimen from Lockport, December 27, 1906; 

 Ottomar Reinecke writes that it has been taken occasionally near Buffalo; 

 Miss Evelyn Moore reports it from Olean; and several specimens have 

 been seen in the vicinity of Rochester by different bird students nearly 

 every year for the last 10 years, sometimes in the spring, especially in 

 May; other times they appear in the early winter and have been observed 

 week after week, but in every instance, although the birds have been fed, 

 they seemed unable to survive the coldest part of the winter, usually 

 disappearing about the third week in January. Near the shore of Lake 

 Erie, between Dunkirk and Silver Creek, it is supposed to breed, but I 

 have never known of any person who has found its nest. Miss Sarah 

 Waite observed it in full song in that vicinity during the spring of 1900. 

 It is thus evident that this famous songster is scarcely able to withstand 

 our northern winters, although it may breed occasionally within the limits 

 of the State. If it would only migrate a few hundred miles to the southward 

 and return again in the spring this bird could undoubtedly be introduced 

 in New York, but all specimens which have been liberated have disappeared. 

 Haunts and habits. The wonderful song powers of the Mockingbird 

 are too well known to require description. In habits it resembles our 

 Brown thrasher, to which it is closely related. Its nest also is similar 

 to the thrasher's nest, but usually placed in thick bushes. The eggs are 

 of a bluish green ground color, heavily speckled with different shades of 

 brown. They average 1 by .75 inches in dimensions. 



