TUBDID2E — MIMING : MOCKING THRUSHES. 249 
genera, with upward of forty recorded species, two-thirds of which are certainly genuine. 
About one-half of these tall in Mimus alone : of Harporhynchus, nearly all the species occur 
in the United States. In their general habits they resemble wrens as much as thrushes, 
habitually residing in shrubbery near the ground, relying for concealment as much upon the 
nature of their resorts as upon their own activity and vigilance. They are all melodious, and 
some, like the immortal mocking-bird^ are as famous for their powers of mimicry as for the 
brilliant execution of their proper songs. In compensation for this great gift of music, perhaps 
that they may. not grow too proud, they are 'plainly clad, grays and browns being the prevail- 
ing colors. The ne-vSt is generally built with little art, in a bush, and the eggs, two to six in 
number, are blue or green, plain or speckled. 
Analysis of Genera. 
Smallest : bill shortest ; wings about equal to tail. Adults speckled below Oroscoptes 2 
Medium : bill moderate ; wings a little shorter than tail. Adults plain below Mimus 3 
Largest : bill immoderate ; wings much shorter than tail. Plain or spotted below . . , Harporhynchus 4 
2. OROSCOP'TES. (Gr. opos, oros, a mountain, and aKojTrrrjs, scoptes, a mimic). Mountain 
Mockers. Wings and tail of equal lengths, the former more pointed than in. other genera of 
MimincB, with the 1st quill not half as long as the 2d, wliich is between the 6th and 7th; 
the 3d, 4th, and 5th about equal to one another, and forming the point of the wing. Tail 
nearly even, its feathers but slightly graduated. Tarsus longer than middle toe and claw, 
anteriorly distinctly scutellate. Bill much shorter than head, not cui-ved, with obsolete notch 
near the end. Rictal bristles well developed, the longest reaching beyond the nostrils. 
0. montanus is the only known species. 
14. O. monta'nus. (Lat. montanus, of a mountain.) Mountain Mocking-bird. Sage 
Thrasher. $^,1x1 summer : Above, grayish or brownish-ash, the feathers with ob- 
soletely darker centres. Below, whitish, more or less tinged with pale huffy-brown, every- 
where marked with triangular dusky spots, largest and most crowded across the breast, small 
and sparse, sometimes wanting, on the throat, lower belly, and crissum. Wings fuscous, 
with much whitish edging on all the quills, and two white bands formed by the tips of the 
greater and median coverts. Tail like the wings ) the outer feather edged and broadly tipped, 
and all the rest, excepting usually the middle pair, tipped with white in decreasing amount. 
Bill and feet black or blackish, the former often with pale base. Length about 8.00 ; wing 
and tail, each, about 4.00; tarsus 1.12; bill 0.75. Young: Dull brownish above, conspic- 
uously streaked with dusky ; the markings below streaky and diffuse. Plains to the Pacific, 
U. S. ; also Texas and Lower California; an interesting species, resembling an undersized 
young mocking-bird, abundant in the sage-brush of the W. Nest on ground or in low bushes ; 
eggs usually 4, 1.00 X 0.72, light greenish-blue, heavily marked with brown and neutral tint. 
3. MI'MUS. (Lat. mimus, a mimic.) Mocking-birds. Bill much shorter than head, scarcely 
curved as a whole, but with gently-curved commissure, notched near the end. Eictal vibrissse 
well developed. Tail rather longer than wings, rounded, the lateral feathers being considerably 
graduated. Wings rounded. (Tarsal scutella 
sometimes obsolete.) Tarsi longer than the mid- 
dle toe and claw. Of this genus there are two 
well marked sections (represented by the mock- 
ing-bird and cat-bird respectively), which may 
be distinguished by color : — 
Mimus. — Above ashy-brown, below white ; 
lateral tail-feathers and bases of primaries white. 
(Tarsal scutella always distinct.) Fig. 120. — Catbird, nat. size. (Ad. nat. del. E. C.) 
Galeoscoptes. — Blackish-ash, scarcely paler below ; crown and tail black, unvaried ; 
crissum rufous. (Tarsal scutella sometimes obsolete.) 
