OREOSCOPTES MONTANUS, MOUNTAIN MOCKINGBIED. 7 



bell-like notes, resonant, distinct, yet soft and of nndescribable sadness, 

 fall upon the ear as we press through the tangled undergrowth beneath 

 the shade of stately trees, we pause involuntarily to listen to music that 

 for the moment makes us forget the terrible torture of body and vexa- 

 tion of spirit that we endure continually from the innumerable hosts of 

 the scourge — musquitoes. 



The Merula minor of Swainson is certainly this species; every point 

 of the -diagnosis, as well as the plate, points to fusceseens. M. wilsoni 

 of the same author is sivainsoni. M. solitaria of the same work is pallasi, 

 the plate erroneously marked "35" for 37. I make these deterniina- 

 tions, which differ somewhat from those of Professor Baird, who assigns 

 the plates otherwise. In my copy of the Fauna, plate "35" (37), the 

 tawny of the rump and other points of coloration are certainly little like 

 those of sicainsoni. 



Mr. Allen has erroneously included T. ustulatus among the synonyms 

 of fusceseens in his Memoirs on lowan and Floridan Birds, above cited ; 

 but 1 am happy to be able to state that he now endorses the ^^ew pre- 

 sented in the "Key." He also informs me that Wilson's Thrush, which 

 was met with in considerable numbers at several points between Denver 

 and South Park, chiefly frequented the dense thickets near the streams, 

 and were hence difficult to observe or procure, although easily recog- 

 nized by their song. None were met with in or about South Park, or 

 above an altitude of about 9,000 feet. 



Subfamily MiMiNiE : Moclcing Tliruslies. 

 OREOSCOPTES MONTANUS, (Towns.) Bd. 



Mountain Mocking1)ird. 



OrpUem montamis, Towns., Journ. Acad. Phila. 1837, 192.— Atjd., Syn. 1839, 89.— AuD., 

 B. Am. ii, 1841, 194, pi. 139. 



Turdus montamis, Atjd., Orn. Biog. iv, 1838, 437, pi. 369, f. 1. , 



Minms montamis, Bp., List, 1838, 17.— Bp., Consp. Av. i, 1850, 276. 



Oreoscoptes montamis, Be, B. N. A. 1858, 347 ; Kev. 1864, 42.— Sci,., P. Z. S. 1859, 340 ; Cat. 

 1862, 8.— Hayd., Rep. 1862, 163.— Coop., Pr. Cal. Acad. 1870, 75 (Colorado 

 River) ; B. Cal. i, 1870. 13.— Stev., U. S. Geol. Surv. Ter. 1870, 464 (Wyoming).— 

 MERRiAiir, ibid. 1872, 670, 705 (Utah).— Allen, Bull. M. C. Z. iii, 1872, 174 

 (western edge of the Colorado Plains). — Hold., Pr. Bost. Soc. 1872, 194 (Black 

 Hills).— COUBS, Key, 1872, 74. 



Sat. — United States, from the Roety Mountains to the Pacific ; south to Mexico and 

 Cape St. Lucas ; east to Fort Laramie and the Black Hills. 



This species bears no slight resemblance to the young of the common Mockingbird, 

 ■which is, like it, spotted below, and for which it might be mistaken upon superficial ex- 

 amination. It is, however, much more heavily and sharply marked with triangular 

 spots on nearly all the under parts, and differs, besides, in its generic characters. The 

 bill is slenderer and comparatively longer ; the wings are relatively much longer and 

 more pointed, equaling or exceeding the tail, which is little rouuded, the outer feathers 

 being only about i inch shorter than the middle ones. Length about 8.00 ; wing 4.00 ; 

 tail rather more ; tarsus 1.15; bill, 0.65. 



Lieutenant Warren's Expedition. — 8821, Black Hills. 



Lalei- Expeditions. — 60447, 60711-19, various Wyoming localities ; 61651-2, Salt Lake, 

 Utah. 



Dr. Hayden's specimen, from the Black Hills, and Dr. Cooper's, from 

 Fort Laramie, probably indicate the extreme eastern range of the 

 species. Mr. Holden's notice is corroborative ; he found them rare in 

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