OF VIRGINIA 321 
placed from two to ten feet from the ground. The eggs 
are dull bluish-green, spotted and blotched with reddish- 
brown, the blotches heavier on the larger end. Eggs 
number from three to four. Size, 1.00x.72. Fresh eggs 
between April 25th and May 10th. A number of times, 
as I have been sitting at my desk in the study writing, 
during the breeding season and a brilliant full moon, have 
I heard one of these songsters (presumably the male). 
break forth into full song, ofttimes lasting four or five 
seconds and repeated once or twice during the evening. 
He was perched on or near the top of a lofty cedar tree 
in which was located the nest, while the female was 
sitting below on a set of eggs. Besides from being an 
attractive bird and a fine songster, the Mockingbird 
destroys many noxious insects, caterpillars and larve, 
while some small fruit, such as grapes and berries, are 
taken. This damage, however, is doubly offset by the 
great amount of harmful matter destroyed by them. 
They also eat lots of the wild grapes, both fox and 
muscadine, as well as poke berries and mulberries. In 
winter they feed largely on the black-gum, holly, cedar, 
and myrtle berries. They are a common bird over Tide- 
water, and westward up to 2,200 feet altitude; never yet 
have I seen a good farm with cedars, without the Mock- 
ingbird. 
GENUS DUMETELLA. 
[704]. Dumetella carolinensis (Linneus),  Catbird. 
Rance.—Eastern North America. Breeds mainly in 
Transition and Austral zones from central British 
Columbia, central Alberta, central Saskatchewan, southern 
