472 THRASHERS, MOCKINGBIRDS, ETC. 



Range. Interior plains of N. A. Breeds in Transition zone from sw. 

 Sask. and s. Man. s. to w. Mont., and N. D.; winters from Tex., s. La., and 

 s. Miss., to s. Mex. 



Nest, of grasses on the ground. Eggs, 3-5, grayish white, thickly and 

 finely speckled with blackish and purplish. 



This species appears to be of rare but more or less regular occurrence 

 on the coast of South Carolina and Georgia. In general habits it resem- 

 bles the Pipit, but its song appears to be far more noteworthy than the 

 vocal effort of that species.- Seton ("Birds of Manitoba") writes that 

 the song, which is delivered from a height of five hundred feet or more, 

 is loud and ventriloquial. "At the beginning it is much like that of the 

 English Skylark, and the notes are uttered deliberately but continuously, 

 and soon increase in rapidity and force till in a few seconds the climax 

 is reached, after which they fade away in a veery-like strain, and then 

 suddenly stop." 



The EUROPEAN WHITE WAGTAIL (694. Motacilla alba} and EUROPEAN 

 MEADOW PIPIT (698. Anihus pratensis) have been recorded as of accidental 

 occurrence in Greenland. 



60. FAMILY MIMID^E. THRASHERS, MOCKINGBIRDS, ETC. (Fig. 72a, &.) 



Most of the sixty-odd species contained in this distinctively American 

 family are restricted to the tropics, only eleven being found north of 

 Mexico. Generally speaking, they frequent scrubby growths and bushy 

 borders of wooded land. When singing they take a more or less exposed 

 perch and devote themselves seriously and exclusively to the delivery 

 of their musical message. As a rule they are possessed of exceptional 

 vocal ability, and the Mockingbirds, of which there are some twenty 

 species, some quite as talented as ours, are conceded first rank among 

 American song birds, so far as variety of expression and execution are 

 concerned. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES 



A. Back slate-color; cap black; under tail-coverts rufous-brown. 



704. CATBIRD. 



B. Back and crown grayish; underparts whitish; outer tail-feathers white. 



703. MOCKINGBIRD. 



C. Back rufous; underparts streaked with black . 705. BROWN THRASHER. 



703. Mimus polyglottos polyglottos (Linn.}. MOCKINGBIRD. Ads. 

 Above ashy; wings and tail fuscous; primary coverts white, centrally, black 

 at end, primaries basally white, showing conspicuously in flight; outer tail- 

 feather white, next two or three with a decreasing amount; below soiled 

 white. L., 10-50; W., 4'50; T., 4'90; B., '70. 



Remarks. The sexes can not be certainly distinguished in color, but in 

 the female the white areas average slightly smaller. Nestlings are grayish 

 brown above, white, spotted with fuscous below. 



Range. SE. U. S., chiefly in Austral zones, from e. Nebr., s. Iowa, 

 Ills., Ind., Ohio, and Md., s. to e. Tex., s. Fla., and the Bahamas, and spa- 

 ringly to N. Y. and Mass.; accidental in Wise., Out., Maine, and N. S.; 

 introduced in Bermuda. 



