34 THE OKXITHOLOGICAL GUIDE. 



name for the Sedge Reedling in England, just as it 

 is for the Turdus pohjglottls, in America, and in 

 both cases, or in any case, it is likely to produce 

 confusion, and is therefore generally abandoned by 

 those who have considered the subject maturely. 

 By " mocking bird" may be understood a Reedling 

 ( Salicaria,) or a Jay (Garruhts,) or a Fauvet 

 (Ficedula,j or a Finch (Fringilla,) or many others, 

 for all these have, as will hereafter be shown, the 

 imitative faculty well developed, but if we say 

 Mimic Reedling, Mimic Thrush, &c, the confusion 

 vanishes instantly, and our meaning is no longer 

 subject to doubts and queries. Another correspond- 

 ent, in a communication from Pennsylvania, (says 

 (VI, 102.) — " Flocks of Green Finches continued in 

 the vicinity of the warm springs, near my residence, 

 throughout the winter." This occasions the following 

 query from another correspondent : — " Of what 

 species is the Green Finch of Pennsylvania ?" If 

 the proper generic and specific name had been used, 

 instead of the vulgar ones, employed by the lower 

 orders in the United States, this query had been 

 unnecessary. In the same communication are several 

 other inaccuracies of a similar nature, as — "a single 

 Robin appeared on the Beaver Dams, followed by 

 considerable numbers on the next day." By Robin 

 I presume he intends the Migratory Thrush, (Tur- 

 dus migratorius, Lin.;) but in this country most 

 persons would suppose the Robin Redbreast, CRuhe- 

 cula familiaris, Blytti,) to be meant. The name 



