The Birds of El Paso County, CotoRADO S91 



Mimus polyglottos leucopterus. Western Mockingbird. 



Summer resident ; locally distributed. Arrives the first 

 week in May ; earliest date April 26, 1882, Allen and Brewster. 



Mockingbirds are locally common in El Paso County; in 

 the Fountain Valley, toward the Pueblo County line, there 

 are many and Aiken found them rather abundant at Ramah, 

 where, June 4-7, 1898, he found two nests and eggs. Speaking 

 of their habits, his note book says : "The female bird is retiring 

 and noticeably browner. The male bird, on the contrary, is 

 much in evidence, taking extended flights across the open 

 country and from one part of a grove to another, conspicuous 

 from his brighter color and large white wing patches." 



A year previous to this he was told of a pair coming 

 to a ranch on the open prairie east of Colorado Springs. The 

 ranchman set some branches from pine trees in the ground and 

 the birds nested in one of these. When the five young were 

 well grown they were put in a cage and were fed there by 

 the mother until they could take care of themselves. One 

 escaped from the cage and was followed off by the male bird, 

 but the female remained to feed the caged birds. 



The species is rare at Colorado Springs ; instances are 

 known, however, of its breeding in the city. In 1904 a pair of 

 Mockingbirds nested in a tree beside the street on Wood 

 Avenue. Though the tree was but a small one its foliage was 

 so dense that the nest could hardly be seen, and would be un- 

 noticed by the casual passerby. The bird was seen on the nest 

 June 17. I went away a day or two after and was absent most 

 of the summer, but on my return was told that a brood had 

 been successfully raised. The last of May and early part of 

 June the male bird was continually singing, being heard even 

 in the night. Not another Mockingbird was seen in that 

 vicinity until May 7, 1913, when a male was seen, but only on 

 that one occasion. A few other cases have been known of its 

 breeding in the city, and for two or more years in succession 

 at the respective localities. 



