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-arylenoideus, 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§ 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. Apocineje, Juss. 
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. 
