BIRDS IN A VILLAGE 101 



Mimus patachonicus, a common resident species 

 in northern Patagonia, on the Atlantic side, very 

 abundant in places. He is a true mocking-bird 

 because he belongs to the genus Mimus, a branch 

 of the thrush family, and not because he mocks 

 or mimics the songs of other species, like others 

 of his kindred. He does not, in fact, mimic the 

 set songs of others, although he often introduces 

 notes and phrases borrowed from other species 

 into his own performance. He sings in a sketchy 

 way all the year round, but in spring has a fuller 

 unbroken song, emitted with more power and 

 passion. For the rest of the time he sings to 

 amuse himself, as it seems, in a peculiarly 

 leisurely, and one may say, indolent manner, 

 perched on a bush, from time to time emitting 

 a note or two, then a phrase which, if it pleases 

 him, he will repeat two or three, or half a dozen 

 times. Then, after a pause, other notes and 

 phrases, and so on, pretty well all day long. This 

 manner of singing is irritating, like the staccato 

 song of our throstle, to a listener who wants 

 a continuous stream of song; but it becomes ex- 

 ceedingly interesting when one discovers that the 

 bird is thinking very much about his own music, 



