COMMON MOCKING-BIRD. 193 



same muscles as the other singing birds, viz. the thyro-arytenoideus, which 

 passes from the edge of the thyroid cartilage at its lower part to be inserted 

 into the tip and sides of the arytenoid cartilage; the thyro-cricoideus, which 

 passes from the anterior edge of the thyroid backward to the cricoid; a small 

 muscle, the crico-arytenoideas, which assists in closing the glottis; and 

 several small slips similar to those observed in other Thrushes, and especially 

 in the Crows, in which the parts, being larger, are more easily seen. The 

 trachea is 1 inch 10 twelfths in length, considerably flattened, gradually 

 tapering from 1 J twelfths to 1 twelfth; the rings, which are firm, are about 

 60, and 2 dimidiate rings. The lateral muscles are slender, as are the sterno- 

 tracheal. There are four pairs of inferior laryngeal muscles; an anterior, 

 going to the tip of the first half-ring, another to the tip of the second, a third 

 broader and inserted into a portion of the last half-ring, the fourth or 

 posterior or upper, long, narrow, and inserted into the point of the same 

 half-ring. Besides these, as in all the land-birds, there is a pair of very 

 slender muscles, the cleido-tracheal, arising from the sides of the thyroid 

 cartilage and inserted into the furcula. The bronchi are rather wide and 

 short, of 12 cartilaginous half rings. 



As in all the birds of this family, there is a very slender salivary gland on 

 each side, lying between the branch of the lower jaw and the mucous 

 membrane of the mouth, upon which latter it opens anteriorly to the frenum 

 of the tongue. ■ 



This species is abundant in the Texas, where it breeds. The eggs are 

 generally one inch in length, and nine-twelfths and a quarter in breadth. 



The Florida Jessamine. 



Gelseminum nitidum, Mich. Flor. Amer., vol. i. p. 120. Pursch, Flor. Amer., vol. i. 

 p. 184. — Pentandria Digynia, Linn. Apocine^e, Jass. 



A climbing shrub, with smooth lanceolate leaves, axillary clusters of 

 yellow flowers, which are funnel-shaped, with the limb spreading and nearly 

 equal, the calyx five-toothed, the capsule two-celled and two-valved. It 

 grows along the sea-coast, especially near rivers, from Virginia to Florida, 

 flowering through the summer. The flowers are fragrant. It is also named 

 Carolina jessamine and yellow jessamine. 



