Ank, XIII, Oct., 1898, p.3^'i. 



The Mockingbird {Mimus folygiottos) in Canada. — A young Mocking- 

 bird taken in the fall of 1894 and sent to me from Sable Island, Nova 

 Scotia, constitutes the fifth record of this species for Canada. The other 

 four are so scattered and have been so often incompletely quoted it seems 

 worth while to review them here, They stand as follows : 



I. Strathroy, Ont. (Strathroy Age [newspaper], July i, 18S0; Forest 

 and Stream, XV, Aug. 26, 1880, p. 67; Bull. N. O. C, VI, 18S1, p. 112). 

 A single bird was seen in the town but not captured. 



II. Chatham, Ont. (Morden and Saunders, Canadian Sportsman and 

 Naturalist, II, Nov. 1882, p. 184; Chamberlain, Cat. Canadian Birds, 1887, 

 p. 110; Mcllwraith, Birds of Ontario, revised ed., 1894, P- 388 ; Piers, 

 Trans. N. S. Inst. Nat. Sci., I, ser. 2, pt. iv, 1S95, p. 409). 



In point of time, i860, this is the first Mockingbird taken in Canada. 

 Mr. Edwin W. Sandys, who originally furnished the record, was recently 

 seen by the writer, and he tells me the bird was secured by liis father and 

 is now in a collection of stuffed birds made by him. It was seen perched 

 on the ridge pole of a barn one June morning just after a warm southerly 

 gale, and its rich song was what first drew attention to it. 



III. Hamilton, Ont. (Mcllwraith, Birds of Ontario, 1886, p. 284, revised 

 ed., 1894, p. 3S8; Chamberlain, Cat. Canadian Birds, 1S87, p. no; Piers, 

 Trans. N. S. Inst. Sci,, I, ser, 2, pt, iv, 1895, p. 409). A pair of birds 

 spent the summer of 18S3 at East Hamilton. 



IV. Truro, N. S. (McLennan, Orn, and Ool., XIV, Aug. 18S9, p. 126; 

 Piers, Trans. N. S. Inst. Nat. Sci,, I, ser. 2, pt. iv, pp. 408-410). A bird 

 was wounded and caught alive July i, 18S9. It showed no signs of being 

 an escaped cage bird. Then it was put in a cage, where it lived for three 

 years when it died and was thrown away. 



V. Sable Island, N. S. This is a" young bird in much worn first 

 plumage, taken in the fall of 1S94. I have been unable to obtain any 

 information about the specimen except that it did not come to the island 

 in a cage, and we can only assume it was carried thither by some resistless 

 storm, perhaps from the mainland or more likely from some far more 

 southern home.— Jon.itii.an Dwigiit, Jr., New York City. 



Correspondence. 



Editor 0. & O. : 



I believe that it may be worth recording 

 that on July 1st I took, at Truro, a M ocking - 

 hird (Mimus polijolottus), a male, 1 infer from 

 his persistent singing. 



I first observed him Sunday, June ,30, and 

 watched him all the afternoon to see if there 

 was a pair of them. The locality is intervale 

 with a few elms and several small clumps of 

 bushes, so I had every chance to discover 

 another if it was there. Being convinced that 

 he was alone I started to bag him at 4 o'clock 

 A.M., next morning; could hear him before 1 

 reached the intervale, and in a few minutes 

 shot him from the top of a tall elm. He came 

 down and I found that I had knocked about 

 quarter of an inch off of his upper mandible, 

 and with this exception he was apparently un- 

 hurt. 



Of course my first thought was that it was 

 possibly an escaped cage bird, but a moments 

 examination showed that the idea was un- 

 founded, as his plumage was perfect, wings 

 and tail unchafed, and feet and claws clean '1 

 and unmarked by the perch as cage birds al- 

 ways are. 



I see by "Coues' Key" and "Birds of New 

 England" that this capture places the Mock- 

 ingbird further north than any recorded. » 



I could not kill him when I found how little 

 hurt he was, but put him in a cage where he 

 is at present, and seems likely to live and be- 

 come reconciled to his new quarters. | 



O.&O. XIV.^ . 1880 p. jS.Ce 



143. Mocking Bird in Canada. Ibid.,XY. p. 6'j. — Record of its appear- 

 ance at Strathroy, Canada, on the authority of L. H. Smith, in the Strath- 

 roy "Age." For. h StreasB 



