540 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



MUCH LIKE THE THRASHER 



The wood thrush is often confused with the brown thrasher, but its breast 

 is spotted rather than streaked, and its bill and tail are shorter. 



distinct to be recognized as a sub-species. The species 

 ranges throughout the country in suitable places as far 

 north as the 38th parallel and occasionally further, occur- 

 ring sparingly in New York and New England. South- 

 ward it ranges through Mexico and Central America to 

 South America and most of the West Indies, being a 

 permanent resident in all but the northern part of its 

 range. From Mexico to South America there are other 



species, some ranging as far south as Patagonia, the total 

 number being about twenty. 



Our mockingbird is a slender, ashy-gray bird about 

 the size of a robin, with white marks in the darker wings 

 and tail. It is found about bushy pastures and the 

 scrubby borders of woods, as well as about gardens, or 

 indeed, wherever there is a thicket in which to hide 

 and an exposed perch from which to sing. In some 

 places along the Gulf it is the most abundant bird and 

 its rich songs on every side drown out all the lesser bird 

 voices of the vicinity. 



The nest, which is a rather bulky structure of sticks 

 and straws, rags and paper, is lined with rootlets and 

 ])laced in a thick bush, an orange tree, a yucca, or even 

 on the vines on the porch. The eggs are greenish-blue 

 rather than heavily marked with dark brown. 



In former years it was customary to keep mocking- 

 birds in cages as pets because of their wonderful songs. 



THE UNSPOTTED, GREENISH BLUE EGGS OF THE CATBIRD 



The other members of the family lay spotted eggs, but all build nests of 

 sticks and rootlets. 



A BEWILDERED CATBIRD 



A rag was placed across the eggs on the nest and the bird is here 

 wondering what to do. It made no attempt to remove the rag but started 

 to incubate beside it, illustrating the non-adaptability of the species. 



and many birds seemed content to sing as beautifully 

 from behind their bars as out in the open, even though 

 their plumage usually became quite disheveled. These 

 were birds taken from the nest when young and reared 

 by hand, for adult birds, no matter how tame when free, 

 would never submit to being caged. Instead they would 

 beat their wings and peck the bars until they became 

 covered with blood. Today it is a serious oflfense, pun- 

 ishable by heavy fines, to kill or to cage the mocking- 

 bird, for in most states there are laws forbidding the 

 caging of native song birds. Likewise a Federal statute 

 prohibits the shipping from one state to another or the 

 importation of song birds native to this country, and 

 more recently the Migratory Bird Treaty gives absolute 

 protection in every state and in Canada to all insectivor- 

 ous birds, the mockingbird among them. 



