40 THE ORNITHOLOGISTS’ AND OoLoGists’ SEMI-ANNUAL. 
of a cat; again he’ll set the old hen crazy by imitating the cry of a 
chick in distress. It is a puzzle to me when he eats, as this is kept 
up all day. Sometimes he sings until midnight, and occasionally all 
night long. Like most birds, the female does all the work of nest- 
building, the male making the noise ; but after the family comes he is 
a model husband, and very little music does he indulge in until the 
little ones are able to take care of themselves. 
The Mockingbird is not very particular as to a nesting site. Heis 
a social fellow and generally builds close to some residence, that is, 
in the country. The only exception to this rule being the nests 
found on the prairies. ‘They never build in the woods remote trom 
dwellings, neither do they build close to a deserted dwelling. 
_ The nest is a bulky structure, the ground work being a platform of 
good sized twigs. On this, the nest proper is built, out of weeds, 
small twigs and grasses; lined with fine, brown rootlets. ‘The nests 
are found in almost every position; sometimes in a small bush not 
more than six or eight inches above the ground ; sometimes in trees — 
fifty feet up ; then again in brush piles, or on the corners of a rail 
fence, and I even found a nest in a hollow stub from which I had 
once taken a set of eggs of the Texan Screech Owl. 
_ The number of eggs in a set is generally four or five. Sets of three 
and six are also found, but not often. ‘The eggs vary a great deal in 
size and markings. The typical egg is of a pale greenish-blue, mot- 
tled with spots, specks and blotches of yellowish and dark brown, and 
lilac or purplish shell markings. These markings and spots are often 
confluent at the larger end, forming a wreath. Some eggs are entire- 
ly covered with brown at the larger end, and again others are found 
where the pale brown is distributed over the whole egg in light and 
darker shades; entirely concealing the ground color. The handsom- 
est eggs, I find, however, are of a bright greenish-blue, plentifully 
speckled with chocolate brown and the purplish shell markings. A 
correspondent to whom I sent a set of eggs of the last variety wrote 
me: “I did not think that the Mockingbird laid such beautiful eggs.” 
Average size of eggs, .97x.74 inches. 
I’ve given a long account of the “Mocker’ for two reasons; z. e. 
because he deserves it, and also for the reason that several articles 
lately appearing in various magazines are simply caricatures of the 
bird and its habits, and were probably written by persons who have 
had little opportunity to study the bird in its uncaged state. 
LB. S@g] 
