250 
SYSTEM A TIG SYNOPSIS. — PA SSEBES — OSCINES. 
15. M. polyglot'tus. (Lat. polygloUics, many-tongued ; from Gr. noXvs, polus, many, and yXarra, 
glotta, tongue. Fig. 119.) Mocking-bird. $, adult : Upper parts ashy-gray; lower parts 
soiled white. Wings blackish-brown, the primaries, with the exception of the first, marked 
with a large white space at the base, restricted on the outer quills usually to half or less of 
these feathers, but occupying nearly all of the inner quiUs. The shorter white spaces show^ as 
a conspicuous spot when the wing is closed, the longer inner ones being hidden by the second- 
aries. The coverts are also tipped and sometimes edged with white ; and there may be much 
edging or tipping, or both, of the quills themselves. Outer tail-feathers white ] next two 
pair white, except on the outer web ; next pair usually white toward the end, and the rest 
sometimes tipped with white. Bill and feet black, the former often pale at the base below ; 
soles dull yellowish. Length about 10.00, but ranging from 9.50 to 11.00; extent about 
14.00 (13.00 to 15.00); whig 4.00-4.50; tail 4.50-5.00; bill 0.75; tarsus 1.25. 9 , adult : 
Similar, but the colors less clear and pure; above rather brownish than grayish-ash, below 
sometimes quite brownish-white, at least on the breast. Tail and wings with less white than 
as above described. But the gradation in these features is by imperceptible degrees, so that 
there is no infallible color-mark of sex. In general, the clearer and purer are the colors, and 
the more white there is on the wings and tail, the more likely is the bird to be a ^ and prove 
a good singer. The 9 is also smaller than the $ on an average, being generally under and 
rarely over 10 inches in length, with extent of wings usually less than 14.00 ; the wing little 
if any over 4.00, the tail about 4.50. Young: Above decidedly brown, and below speckled 
with dusky. U. S. from Atlantic to Pacific, southerly ; rarely N. to New England, and not 
common N. of 38°, though known to reacli 42° ; thronging the groves of the South Atlantic 
and Gulf States. Nest in bushes and low trees, bulky and inartistic, of twigs, grasses, leaves, 
etc.; eggs 4-6, measuring on an average 1.00 X 0.75, bluish-green, heavily speckled and 
freckled with several brownish shades. Two or three broods are generally reared each season, 
which in the South extends from March to August. When taken from the nest, the ''prince 
of musicians" becomes a contented captive, and has been known to live many years in con- 
finement. Naturally an accomplished songster, he proves an apt scholar, susceptible of improve- 
ment by education to an astonishing degree ; but there is a great difference with individual 
birds in this respect. 
16. M. carolinen'sis. (Of CaroHna : Carolus, Charles IX., of France.) (Figs. 37, 120.) Cat- 
bird. $ 9 • Slate-gray, paler and more grayish-plumbeous below; crown of head, tail, bill, 
and feet black. Quills of the wing blackish, edged with the body-color. Under tail-coverts 
rich dark chestnut or mahogany-color. Length 8.50-9.00; extent 11.00 or more; wing 3.50- 
3.75 ; tail 4.00 ; biU 0.66 ; tarsus 1.00-1.10. Young : Of a more sooty color above, with little 
or no distinction of a black cap, and comparatively paler below, where the color has a soiled 
brownish cast. Crissum dull rufous. U. S. and ' adjoining British Provinces. West to the 
Rocky Mts., and even Washington Terr., but chiefly Eastern; migratory, but resident in the 
Southern States, and breeds throughout its range ; nest of sticks, leaves, bark, etc., in bushes; 
e^gs 4-6, deep greenish-blue, not spotted. An abundant and familiar inhabitant of our 
groves and briery tracts, remarkable for its harsh cry, like the mewing of a cat (whence its 
name), but also possessed, like all its tribe, of eminent vocal ability. 
4. HARPORHYN^CHUS. (Gr. apTrr;, harpe, a sickle; pvyx^s, rhygcJios, beak; i. e., bow- 
billed.) Thrashers. Bill of indeterminate size and shape, ranging from one extreme, in 
which it is straight and shorter than the head, to the other, in which it exceeds the head 
in length and is bent like a bow (see figs. 121-125). Feet large and strong, indicating terres- 
trial habits; tarsus strongly scutellate anteriorly, about equalling or slightly exceeding in 
length the middle toe with its claw. AVings and tail rounded, the latter decidedly longer 
than the former. Rictus with well developed bristles. Viewing only the extreme shapes of 
the bill, as in H. rufiis and H. crissalis, it would not seem consistent with the minute subdivis- 
