92 



ORNITHOLOGISTS' COMPENDIUM. 



I 



Mim'esis (L), 

 Mimicry, 



is regularly periodical, the vernal or spring migration being in the 

 northern hemisphere, northward, the autumnal migration southward, 

 but vice versa in the southern hemisphere. The migrations of many 

 birds, however, are irregular or erratic, being prompted by the neces- 

 sity of finding the requisite food-supply. The Passenger Pigeon (Ec- 

 topistes migratoria), American Robin (Merula migratoria), Cedar-bird 

 (Ampelis cedrorum), etc., are migratory in this sense; while the Tana- 

 gers, Orioles, and others, which pass the summer only in northern 

 latitudes and the winter entirely within the tropics, are periodical 

 migrants. 

 Mimetic (L. mimet'icus), a. Imitative ; pertaining to or given to mimicry. 

 ii. Mockery, or imitation of voice, shape, color, etc. 

 The term protective mimicry is applied to animals which 

 imitate in color or shape objects by which they are 

 surrounded or species with which they are associated. 

 Mir'ror (L. spec'ulum), re. A name occasionally given to the speculum 



or metallic wing-spot of ducks, etc. 

 Mol'lipilose (L. mollipilo' sus) , a. Softly dovny. 



Monog'amous, a. Mating with a single individual of the opposite sex. 

 Applied to species which pair. Those in which the male assists in 

 incubation and rearing the young are doubly monogamous. 

 Monog'amy, n. The state of pairing, or having a single companion. 

 Mon'ograph, n. A special treatise upon a given subject ; as, a Mono- 

 graph of the Woodpeckers, a Monograph of the Genus Sylvia, a Mono- 

 graph of the Great Auk, etc. 

 Monomorpb/ic, a. Of essentially the same or similar type of structure. 



(Opposite of polymorphic.) 

 Monotonous, a. Laying a single egg, as the Petrels, Auks, etc. (Same 



as uniparous.) 

 Morphological, a. Pertaining to morphology. 



Morphology, n. The science which treats of the laws of form, or the 

 principles of structure. Morphology is the basis of homology, while 

 analogy is based upon teleology. 

 Mouse Gray (L. muri'no-gris'eus ; murinus), n. (Lamp-black -f- white -|- 



sepia.) (Plate II. fig. 11.) 

 Moustache' (L. mys'tax), n. In descriptive Ornithology any conspicuous 



stripe on the side of the head beneath the eye. 

 Mu'cronate (L. mucrona'tus), a. Spine-tipped, as the rectrices of the 



Chimney-swift ( Chcetura pelagica). 

 Mucron'ulate (L. mucronula'tus), a. Tipped with small points. 

 Multip'arous, a. Producing many eggs. 



Mum'my Brown, n. A bright brown color, nearly intermediate in tint 

 between burnt umber and raw umber. The pigment of this name is 

 prepared from ground Egyptian mummies. (Mummy; also, sepia + 

 raw umber + burnt sienna.) (Plate III. fig. 10.) 

 Mu'ral (L. mura'lis), a. Pertaining to a wall. 



