342 ZOOLOGY. 



are found in all parts of the world, and are conspicuous for variety and 

 sweetness of song. The European species are represented as birds of 

 rather shy disposition, most usually frequenting the skirts of the forests, 

 and the thickets and bushes of extensive pastures, while some prefer the 

 wilds of mountains or desejts. They are all in a greater or less degree 

 migratory, residing in the south during the winter. 



The fieldfare, Merula pilaris, the missel thrush, M. viscivorus (pi. 100, 

 fg. 12), the song thrush, AT. musica {pi. 100, fig. 14), the European black- 

 bird, M. vulgaris (pi. 100, fig. 9), the ring ouzel, M. torqiiata, the redwing, 

 M. iliaca (pi. 100, fig. 13), and the rock thrush, M. saxatilis (pi. 100, 

 fiig. 10), are the more common European species. 



The common migratory thrush or American robin, Merula migratoria, 

 belongs here. It is found in all parts of North America, and in the United 

 States is known to everybody. It is migratory, but may almost be con- 

 sidered resident in all parts of the United States south of Baltimore. It 

 lives almost entirely in the orchards and cultivated grounds of farmers, 

 making its nest generally in a tree of the former, substantially plastering 

 it inside with mud. 



In autumn, robins are favorite game with our juvenile and other amateur 

 sporting population, with whom they have the reputation of being good at 

 sitting still to be shot at. Vast numbers are destroyed every autumn, 

 especially in the vicinity of cities. 



In this division is classed also the family of American mocking birds, 

 of which there are about twelve or fourteen species. 



The mocking bird of the United States, Mimus polyglottus, is our most 

 famous singer, which high position his accomplishments fully entitle him to. 



" His own native notes," as Wilson observes, " are easily distinguishable 

 by such as are well acquainted with those of our various song birds. They 

 consist of short expressions of two, three, or at most of five or six syllables, 

 generally interspersed with imitations, and all of them uttered with great 

 emphasis and rapidity. He many times deceives the sportsman, and sends 

 him in search of birds that perhaps are not within miles of him, but whose 

 notes he exactly imitates ; even birds themselves are frequently imposed 

 on by this admirable mimic, and are decoyed by the fancied calls of their 

 mates, or dive with precipitation into the depth of the thicket, at the 

 scream of what they suppose to be the sparrow-hawk. 



" This excessive fondness for variety, however, in the opinion of some, 

 injures his song. His elevated imitations of the brown thrush are fre- 

 quently interrupted by the crowing of cocks ; and the warblings of the 

 bluebird, which he exquisitely manages, are mingled with the screaming 

 of swallows or the cackling of hens ; amidst the simple melody of the robin, 

 we are suddenly surprised by the shrill reiterations of the whip-poor-will ; 

 while the notes of the killdeer, blue jay, martin, Baltimore oriole, and 

 twenty others, succeed with such imposing reality, that we look round for 

 the originals, and discover with astonishment that the sole performer in 

 this singular concert is the admirable bird now before us." 



The mocking bird is found throughout the United States. 

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