92 



BULLETIN 326, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



Berries of several species of rubiaceous shrubs were eaten freely, while the 

 moral (Cordia sp.) and roble guayo (Bourreria bourreria) were the greatest 

 favorites. Small wild figs (Ficus sp.), which grow commonly all through the 

 country, were found in six stomachs, as were seeds of the nightshade family 

 (Solarium sp.). 



Seeds of plants in the following list were identified in the mockingbird stom- 

 achs examined : 



Palmo (Coccothrinax sp.) 2 



Palmo real (Roystonea borinquena) 2 



Wild fig (Ficus sp.) 6 



Amaranth (Amaranthus sp.) 1 



Espino (Xanthoxylum sp.) 2 



Bejuco prieto (Paullinia pinnata) 1 



Jatropha (Jatropha sp.) 1 



Adelia (Adelia sp.) 1 



Nightshade (Solatium sp.) 6 



Moral (Cordia sp.) 



Roble guayo (Bourreria bourreria) _. 

 Pendula (Citharexylum fruticosum) . 



Tantillo (Randia sp.) 



Balsamo Colorado (Hamelia patens). 

 Palo moro (Psychotria sp.) 



Summary. — The mockingbird secures a little less than one-third of its aliment 

 from the animal kingdom, the remainder being wild fruits and berries of no 

 economic importance. In destroying noxious insects, as cutworms, weevils, and 

 the notorious changa, it is a great aid to agricultural interests, and as such 

 should be protected at all times. 



PORTO RICAN THRUSH. Mimocichla ardosiacea portoricensis (Bryant). 



ZORZAL., ZORZAL AzUL, ZORZAL DE PATAS COLORADAS. 



The Porto Bican thrush is a tolerably common resident over the entire island, 

 though less so on the dry south coast. It is a bird of dense, brushy areas, and 

 . in the hills it frequents coffee plantations, while a region of small streams, 

 fringed with trees, running through brushy pastures, is also attractive. At 

 times the birds run on the ground in the open, as robins do, but when flushed 

 take refuge in thickets. When singing they mount to the top of a tree, perch 

 in the thick leaves, and pay little or no attention to anyone moving about below. 

 Their song, as with the pearly-eyed thrasher, is a series of disconnected notes, 

 some of which are quite musical, and the 'whole effect is not unpleasing, though 

 repetition makes it monotonous. Their note was a low wheur-a, like that of a 

 thrasher, and they were called up frequently by " squeaking " or by a whistled 

 imitation. 



/The breeding season extends from February to June, varying somewhat in 

 different parts of the island. Near Mameyes in February, birds were seen going 

 through a sort of mating display, male and female running about on the ground 

 with heads drawn in, the tail spread wide, and thrown forward over the back, 

 so that the white tips were prominent. Young birds were common in June and 

 July, and at that time the adults were molting badly. Taylor (1864, p. 166) has 

 described the bill, eyelids, legs, and feet as a bright yellow in life, but this does 

 not hold good in a considerable number of specimens examined in the flesh; 

 these parts were near flame scarlet, 1 becoming more orange in June specimens, 

 which were molting badly. 



Near Ciales thrushes were in small bands eating fruit of the laurel (Phcebe 

 elongata), and near Anasco one was seen eating the berries of the moral (Cordia 

 sp.) and repeatedly driving out a gray kingbird which attempted to alight in 

 the tree. They relish also the berries borne by the royal palm (Roystonea 

 borinquena) . 



Food. — Thirty-two stomachs of this thrush were available for examination, 

 all of the months from January to August "with the exception of April being 



1 Ridgway, Color Standards and Color Nomenclature, 1912 (Jan. 16, 1913). 



