472 THRASHERS, MOCKINGBIRDS, ETC. 
Range . — Interior plains of N. A. Breeds in Transition zone from sw. 
Sask. and s. Man. s. to w. Mont., and N. D.; winters from Tex., s. La., and 
s. Miss., to s. Mex. 
Nest , of grasses on the ground. Eggs , 3-5, grayish white, thickly and 
finely speckled with blackish and purplish. 
This species appears to be of rare but more or less regular occurrence 
on the coast of South Carolina and Georgia. In general habits it resem- 
bles the Pipit, but its song appears to be far more noteworthy than the 
vocal effort of that species. Seton (“Birds of Manitoba”) writes that 
the song, which is delivered from a height of five hundred feet or more, 
is loud and ventriloquial. “At the beginning it is much like that of the 
English Skylark, and the notes are uttered deliberately but continuously, 
and soon increase in rapidity and force till in a few seconds the climax 
is reached, after which they fade away in a veery-like strain, and then 
suddenly stop.” 
The European White Wagtail (694. Motacilla alba ) and European 
Meadow Pipit (698. Anthus pratensis ) have been recorded as of accidental 
occurrence in Greenland. 
60. Family Mimid^. Thrashers, Mockingbirds, Etc. (Fig. 72 a, b .) 
Most of the sixty-odd species contained in this distinctively American 
family are restricted to the tropics, only eleven being found north of 
Mexico. Generally speaking, they frequent scrubby growths and bushy 
borders of wooded land. When singing they take a more or less exposed 
perch and devote themselves seriously and exclusively to the delivery 
of their musical message. As a rule they are possessed of exceptional 
vocal ability, and the Mockingbirds, of which there are some twenty 
species, some quite as talented as ours, are conceded first rank among 
American song birds, so far as variety of expression and execution are 
concerned. 
KEY TO THE SPECIES 
A. Back slate-color; cap black; under tail-coverts rufous-brown. 
704. Catbird. 
B. Back and crown grayish; underparts whitish; outer tail-feathers white. 
703. Mockingbird. 
C. Back rufous; underparts streaked with black . 705. Brown Thrasher. 
703. Mimus polyglottos polyglottos (Linn.). Mockingbird. Ads. 
Above ashy; wings and tail fuscous; primary coverts white, centrally, black 
at end, primaries basally white, showing conspicuously in flight; outer tail- 
feather white, next two or three with a decreasing amount; below soiled 
white. L., 10*50; W., 4*50; T., 4*90; B., *70. 
Remarks . — The sexes can not be certainly distinguished in color, but in 
the female the white areas average slightly smaller. Nestlings are grayish 
brown above, white, spotted with fuscous below. 
Range. — SE. U. S., chiefly in Austral zones, from e. Nebr., s. Iowa, 
Ills., Ind., Ohio, and Md., s. to e. Tex., s. Fla., and the Bahamas, and spa- 
ringly to N. Y. and Mass.; accidental in Wise., Ont., Maine, and N. S.; 
introduced in Bermuda. 
