MIMUS. 35 



1. Mimus polyglottus. 



Tardus poly glottos, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 293 \ 



Orpheus poly glottos, Sw. Phil. Mag. new ser. i. p. 369^ 



Mimus polyglottus, Scl. P. Z. S. 1857, p. 212'; Baird, Rev. Am. B. p. 48*; Sumichrast, Mem. 



Bost. Soc. N. H. i. p. 543'; Grayson, Pr. Bost. Soc. N. H. xiv. p. 277"; Lawr. Mem. Bost. 



Soc. N. H. ii. p. 267"; Baird, Brew. & Ridgw. N. Am. B. i. p. 49'; Sennett, Bull. U. S. 



Geol. Surv. iv. p. 3'; Coues, B. Col. VaU. p. 53". 

 Mimus caudatus, Baird, B. N. Am. p. 345". 



Mimus polyglottus, var. caudatus, Lawr. Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. no. A, p, 12". 

 Mimus t, Scl. P. Z. S. I860, p. 250 ". 



Supra cinereus, superciliis indistincte albis, loris nigris ; alls nigrieantibus cinerascenti limbatis, primaxiorum 

 basi et eorum tectricibus (prseter apices) speculum alare album fonnantibus ; subtus albus, pectore paulo 

 grisescente ; cauda nigra, rectrice extima tota, secundse pogonio interno, et tertia (nisi parte media) albis ; 

 rostro et pedibus nigris. Long, tota 9'5, alse 4-4, caudse 4-4, rostri a rictu 1-0, tarsi 1-35. (Desor. 

 exempl. ex Oaxaca, Mexico merid. Mus. nostr.) 



Eah. N. Amekica, from lat. N. 40° southwards ^. — Mexico, between Guaymas and 

 Mazatlan {Grayson^), Mazatlan [Grayson, Bischoff'^), Tres Marias Is. {Grayson^), 

 Eeal del Monte {Bulloch^), Orizaba (SallS^^, Botferi^, Sumichrast^), Mirador 

 (Sartorius^), valley of Mexico (le Strange), Oaxaca {Fenochio), Villa Alta (Boucard), 

 Tehuantepec {Sumichrast^^). 



This well-known species, perhaps the most familiar of all the birds of the United 

 States, is found in suitable localities throughout Mexico as far south as the Isthmus of 

 Tehuantepec (where M. gilvus is also found), its place being taken in the promontory 

 of Yucatan and in Guatemala by the southern species Mimus gilvus. Whether the 

 Cuban species spoken of by Dr. Gundlach * is identical with the northern bird is not 

 yet certain, as specimens do not appear to have been actually compared ; but as each 

 of the islands of the Greater Antilles appears to have a race of its own of this section 

 of the genus Mimus, it is probable that the Cuban bird differs to some extent from 

 Mimus polyglottus. 



In Mexico M. polyglottus was found by Grayson in the Tres Marias Islands, where, 

 however, though resident '^, it is rare and a shy bird^. In the State of Vera Cruz Prof. 

 Sumichrast found it in the hot and temperate regions, and he says^ that it is one of the 

 few species that are found equally abundant in localities the most widely different both 

 as to height and climate, being found from the gulf-shores as far up as the great plains 

 of the plateau, but always only in the more open portions. It nests in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Orizaba. Mimus polyglottus is found in abundance all along the northern 

 frontier of Mexico, both in the basin of the Colorado 1° and in the Rio-Grande valley ^. 



At one time Prof. Baird seemed disposed to separate the western bird under the 

 name M. caudatus^^, on account of the greater length of the tail of certain western 



* Om. Cub. p. 60. 



5* 



