MOCKINGBIRD. 



writes, "The song may be written thuree, thuree, thuree, 

 generally followed by two or three lower notes. Whether 

 the accent is on the first or second syllable is hard to tell, 

 but a throaty quality, and the presence of the letter r, 

 characterize the song." Bradford Torrey, inimitable in 

 word description of bird-song writes, "The song as I heard 

 it was like this: whit, whit, whit, wit, wit. The first three 

 notes were deliberate and loud, on one key, and without 

 accent; the last two were pitched a little lower, and were 

 shorter, with the accent on the first of the pair; they were 

 thinner in tone than the opening triplet, as is meant to 

 be indicated by the difference in spelling." This last 

 description seems to fit my records almost exactly, con- 

 sidering the number of notes in a bird's song is generally 

 variable. The song does not occupy more than one and 

 a half seconds of time, and it has been called a loud but 

 commonplace ditty. However that may be, the one satis- 

 factory thing about it is its easily recognized rhythm with 

 a cheeriness about it that absolutely negatives the name 

 Mourning! 



Family Mimidce 



Mockingbird The Mockingbird is an irregular visitant 

 Mimus fa tne nor therly States and rather a rare 



polyglottos .j . _ ,. _ _ 



L. 10.50 inches permanent resident of Washington, D. C. 

 Permanent It inhabits the southern United States from 

 resident, SouthFlorida to Texas, and its range extends 

 northward to eastern Nebraska, Illinois, Ohio, and Mary- 

 land. Occasionally it visits Wisconsin, Ontario, Michigan, 

 New York, and Massachusetts. On numerous occasions 

 it has been reported from southeastern New York, and 

 there is good reason to believe it has bred near Rockaway, 

 L. I. Other records in this part of the State are, River- 

 dale, Brooklyn, Gravesend, Fort Hamilton, Flatbush, Mil- 

 lers Place, Shelter Island, and Floral Park, and in the 

 westerly region, Dunkirk, Buffalo, Lockport, and Roches- 

 ter. There are several records of its breeding in New 

 England, notably Springfield.* The general color of the 

 * A Guide to the Birds, Ralph Hofiman. p. 96. 

 307 



