130 BIRDS OF SOUTH DAKOTA 



patches and outer tail feathers white. The Western is dis- 

 tinguished from the Southern Mocker by a brownish tinge below 

 and larger white wing patches. The Mocking Birds have no 

 equal as singers, and it is hoped that by kind treatment they 

 may become regular summer residents of our State. 



704. Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis.) 



This slate colored bird is familiar everywhere in South 

 Dakota. It is named from its catlike danger note, and, like the 

 Brown Thrasher, is a lover of thorns and thickets. It is the 

 nearest relative of the Mocking Bird. While the Catbird is 

 known better for its catcall than for its song, it is really a fine 

 singer, and has been pronounced our most accurate songster by 

 musically trained bird students. Being a mocker, its song is 

 a medley of other birds' notes, which often deceives the unmusi- 

 cal bird lover. One will sometimes come upon the male in a 

 deep thicket practicing his song in an undertone with closed 

 eyes. The finest song one of the authors ever heard from this 

 mocker was given from the midst of a low bush in a pouring 

 rain. 



705. Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum.) 



The Brown Thrasher is a familiar summer resident in 

 every part of the State. It is a bird of the underbrush, the 

 plum thicket, the brushpile, and the thistle-bestrewn pasture. Its 

 tail is noticeably long — about as long as its rusty body. Al- 

 though they are quite in keeping with the thorny places which 

 the bird loves, its yellow eyes, skulking manner, and threatening, 

 hissing notes, make the impression on one that the bird is un- 

 warrantably concealing something. But the impression is 

 wholly inconsistent with the bird's character, which is in every 

 way excellent. Its real nature flows forth in its song, which is 

 sung from the highest tree tops, and is a musical performance 

 of real merit, which often continues intermittently for half an 

 hour. 



FAMILY TROGLODYTID^. WRENS 

 715. Rock Wren (Salp'mctes obsoletus obsoletus.) 



A common summer resident in South Dakota from the 



