BIRDS OF INDIANA. 1107 



In the lower Wabash Valley it is a resident, at least north to Terre 

 Haute, but is much more common in summer. Elsewhere in the 

 southern half of the State, it is a rare summer resident, and farther 

 north it is of accidental occurrence, extending even into Michigan. 

 There they develop the migratory habit, passing a little further south 

 usually in winter, although some of them seem to become vagrants, 

 wandering at that season in the opposite direction. In the south- 

 eastern part of the State it has been reported as breeding at Guilford, 

 Dearborn County (Hughes). Dr. Haymond noted its occurrence in 

 Franklin County (Ind. Geol. Kept., 1869, pp. 219, 220), and June 29, 

 1880, 1 obtained- young scarcely able to fly, within the corporate limits 

 of Brookville. In Monroe County they breed, but are rare (Blatchley, 

 Evermann), while in Vigo County they breed commonly (Kendrick). 

 They seem to range farther north in numbers in the prairie districts 

 of Illinois and western Indiana than farther eastward. In addition, 

 they have been reported as breeding in the following counties: Posey 

 (Elliott), Knox (Ridgway, Chansler), Gibson (Eidgway), Floyd (Yeno- 

 wine). Prof. Blatchley found it in Vigo County, February 14, 1888, 

 and Prof. Evermann in the same county in January. Mr. H. K. Coale 

 informs me he found one in Starke County, January 1, 1884. They 

 have also been reported from the following counties: Brown, March 

 10, 1892 (Barnett); Putnam,, 1888 (Clearwaters); Cass, Logansport, 

 spring of 1881 (Prof. E. E. Fish); Hamilton, May 13, 1897 (Brokaw). 

 Prof. E. L. Moseley reports one from Sandusky, 0., May 20, 1893, 

 and Mr. C. H. Morris has written me fully of a pair nesting on the 

 rail of a fence near McConnelsville, 0., in June, 1896. He says there 

 were also two other pairs in the same neighborhood.' 



Mr. Morris tells me the young were taken from the nest and put 

 into a cage and left exposed. The parents fed them, and four days 

 after they were taken began building a new nest, also on the fence, 

 some thirty yards from the first. They also continued to care for 

 the young in the cage. 



When they appear in a new locality for the first time, their remark- 

 able voices soon attract attention. They sing by day and also on 

 moonlight nights; on the wing as well as in the trees. There are 

 other birds that far exceed it in melody and surpass it in sweetness, 

 but as a mocker it is without a peer. At morning or evening, from 

 the top of a tree, a fence stake, or a wheat stack, it begins its mar- 

 velous imitations. It may begin with the notes of a Bobwhite, then 

 follow with the song of a Carolina . Wren, and succeed these with 

 recognizable productions of the Whip-poor-will, Robin, Wood Thrush, 

 Phoabe, Cardinal, Red-headed Woodpecker, and Flicker. It seems to 



