250 STSTE3IATIC SYNOPSIS. —PASSEBES— OSCINES. 



15. M. polyglot'tus. (Lat. polyglottus, many-tougucd ; from Gr. ttoAi^s, j^oluf;, many, and ykarra, 

 gJotta, tougue. Fig. 119.) Mocking-bird. <J, adult: Upper parts ashy-gray; lower parts 

 soiled white. Wings hlaekish-hrowu, the primaries, with the exception of the first, marked 

 with a large white space at the hase, restricted on tlic outer quQls usually to half or less of 

 these feathers, hut occupying nearly aU of the iuner qudls. The shorter white spaces show as 

 a conspicuous spot when tlie wing is closed, the longer inner oues heing hidden hy the second- 

 aries. The CL.vcrts are also tipped and sometimes edged with white ; and there may be much 

 edging or tipping, or both, of the quUls themselves. ■ Outer tail-feathers white ; next two 

 pair white, except on the outer web : next pair usually white toward the end, and the rest 

 sometimes tipped with white. BUI and feet black, the former often pale at the base below ; 

 soles dull yellowish. Length about 10.00, but ranging from 9.50 to 11.00; extent about 

 11.00 (13.00 to 1.5.00): wing 1.00-1.50 -, tail 1.50-5.00; bill 0.75; tarsus 1.25. 9 , aduh : 

 SimiUir, but the colors less clear and pure ; above rather brownish than grayish-ash, below 

 sometimes quite brownish-white, at least on the breast. Tail and wings with less white than 

 as above described. But the gradation in these features is by imperceptible degrees, so that 

 there is no infallible color-mark of sex. In general, the clearer and purer are the colors, and 

 the more white there is on the wings and tail, the more likely is the bird to be a (J and prove 

 a good singer. The ? is also smaller than tlie (J ou an average, being generally under and 

 rarely over 10 inches in length, witli extent i:>f wings usually less than 14.00; the wing little 

 if any over 4.00, tlie tail about 4.50. Young: Above decidedly brown, and below speckled 

 witli dusky. U. S. from Atlantic to Pacific, soutlierly ; rarely X. to Xew England, and not 

 common X, of 3S°, though kuo-s-iTi to reach 42° ; thronging the groves of the South Atlantic 

 and Gulf States. Nest in bushes and low trees, bulky and inartistic, of twigs, grasses, leaves, 

 etc.; eggs 4-6, measuring on an average 1.00 X 0.75, bluish-green, heavUy speckled and 

 freckled with several brownish sliades. Two or tliree broods are generally reared each season, 

 whicli in the South extends from ]Marcli to August. When taken from the nest, the " prince 

 of musicians" becomes a contented ca]itive, and has been knomi to live many years in con- 

 finement. Naturally an accomplished songster, he proves an apt scholar, susceptible of improve- 

 ment by education to an astonishing degree ; but there is a great difference with individual 

 birds in this respect. 



16. M. caroUnen'sis. (Of Carohna : Carolits, Charles IX., of France.) (Figs. 37, 120.) Cat- 

 BIKD. (J 9 '■ Slate-gray, paler and more gTayish-pluuibeous below ; crown of head, tail, bill, 

 and feet black. Quills of the wing blackish, edged with the body-color. Under t;ul-coverts 

 rich dark chestnut or mahogany-color. Length 8.50-9.00; extent 11.00 or more ; wing 3.50- 

 3.75; tail 4.00; bill 0.66; tarsus 1.00-1. 10. Young: Of a more sooty color above, with little 

 or no distinction of a black cap, and comparatively paler below, where the color has a soiled 

 brownish cast. Crissum dull rufous. U. S. and adjoining British Provinces. West to the 

 Eocky Mts., and even Washington Terr., but cldefly Eastern; migratory, but resident in the 

 Southern States, and breeds throughout its range; nest of sticks, leaves, bark, etc., in bushes; 

 eggs 4-6, deep greenish-blue, not spotted. An abundant and familiar inhabitant of our 

 groves and briery tracts, remarkable for its harsh cry, like the mewing of a eat (whence its 

 name), but also possessed, like all its tribe, of eminent vocal ability. 



4. HAKPORHYN'CHUS. (Gr. apTrrj, harpe, a sickle; pvyxos, rhi/gchos, heak ; i. e., bow- 

 billed.) Thrashers. Bill of indeterminate size and shape, ranging from one CKtrerae, iu 

 which it is straight and shorter than the head, to the other, iu which it exceeds the head 

 in length and is bent like a bow (see figs. 121-125). Feet largo and strong, iudicatiug terres- 

 trial habits ; tarsus strongly scutcllate anteriorly, about equalling or slightly exceeding iu 

 length the middle toe with its claw. Wings and tail rounded, the latter decidedly lougei 

 than the former. Rictus with \i'ell developed bristles. Viewing only the extreme shapes of 

 the bill, as iu H. rufiia and H. wmwfo, it would not seem cmisistent \^ith the minute subdivis- 



