164 
The Mockingbird 
America, ‘'nearly all the Mockingbirds approach the farmhouses and 
plantations, living about the gardens or outhouses. They are then fre- 
quently seen on the roofs, and perched on the chimney-tops; yet they ii 
always appear full of animation. Whilst searching for food on the 1 
ground their motions are light and elegant, and they frequently open 
their wings as butterflies do when basking in the sun, moving a step or 
two, and again throwing out their wings. When the weather is mild, 
the old males are heard singing with as much spirit as during the spring 
or summer, while the younger birds are busily engaged in practising, 
preparatory to the love season. They seldom resort to the interior of the 
forest either during the clay or by night, but usually roost among the 1 
foliage of evergreens, in the immediate vicinity of houses in Louisiana, 
although in the Eastern States they prefer low fir trees.” 
Although Mockingbirds are found more abundantly in the Southern 
States, they occasionally wander much farther north in the summer ; I 
some, indeed, have been known to build their nests in Illinois and New ; 
Jersey. At the approach of winter these wanderers t| 
Food usually seek the South, and seldom winter north of 
Virginia; yet for some reason a Mockingbird declines 
now and then to leave his northern summer-home, and despite the snows j 
and sleet will remain until the succeeding spring. One is known to have 
stayed at Rochester, New York, during the winter of 1905-6, possibly 
induced to do so by the abundant food provided for it by Mrs. Carroll E. 
Brown. 
While investigating the feeding-habits of this remarkable bird, Dr. 
F. E. L. Beal found that in the fifty-two stomachs examined nearly a 
third of the contents was of vegetable origin ; half of this was fruit, and 
a large part of the remainder was seeds. The birds’ appetite for fruit 
and berries in some communities becomes so troublesome that occa- 
sionally many fruit-growers complain of their depredations, while others j 
plant more fruit in order to provide enough both for man and bird. The j 
latter is the humane and economic method, and should be followed by all 
orchardists. 
Classification and Distribution 
The Mockingbird belongs to the Order Passeres, Suborder Oscines, and ! 
Family Mimidcc. Its scientific name is Mimus poly glottos. Its breeding-range 
comprises the whole United States north to Maryland, southern Iowa and central 
California ; but those of the southwestern United States and Mexico are assigned 
to a subspecies (M. p. leucopterus ) . 
This and other Educational Leaflets are for sale, at 5 cents each, by the National Association of 
Audubon Societies, 1974 Broadway, New York City. Lists given on request. 
