88 
TURDUS POLYGLOTTUS. 
GENUS XX. — T URDUS, Linnjsus. 
89. TURDUS POLYGLOTTUS , LINNAEUS AND WILSON. 
MOCKING BIRD. 
WILSON, PLATE X. FIG. I.— EDINBURGH COLLEGE MUSEUM. 
This celebrated and very extraordinary bird, in extent 
and variety of vocal powers, stands unrivalled by the 
whole feathered songsters of this, or perhaps any other 
country ; and shall receive from us, in this place, all 
that attention and respect which superior merit is justly 
entitled to. 
Among the many novelties which the discovery of 
this part of the western continent first brought into 
notice, we may reckon that of the mocking bird ; 
which is not only peculiar to the New World, but 
inhabits a very considerable extent of both North and 
Sotith America ; having been traced from the States of 
New England to Brazil ; and also among many of the 
adjacent islands. They are, however, much more 
numerous in those States south, than in those north, 
of the river Delaware ; being generally migratory in 
the latter, and resident (at least many of them) in the 
former. A warm climate, and low country, not far 
from the sea, seem most congenial to their nature ; 
accordingly, we find the species less numerous to the 
west than east of the great range of the Alleghany, in 
the same parallels of latitude. In the severe winter of 
1808-9, I found these birds, occasionally, from Fre- 
dericksburg, in Virginia, to the southern parts of 
Georgia ; becoming still more numerous the farther I 
advanced to the south. The berries of the red cedar, 
myrtle, holly, Cassine shrub, many species of smilax, 
together with gum berries, gall berries, and a profusion 
of others with which the luxuriant swampy thickets of 
those regions abound, furnish them with a perpetual 
feast. Winged insects, also, of which they are very 
fond, and remarkably expert at catching, abound there 
even in winter, and are an additional inducement to 
residency. Though rather a shy bird in the Northern 
