THRASHERS, MOCKINGBIRDS: MOCKINGBIRD 551 
Description. — Male: Wing . 4.3-4.7 
inches, tail 4.5-5.3, bill .6-.7. Female: 
Wing 4.2-4.6 inches, tail 4.4-5.1, bill 
,5-.7. Adults: Upper par Is grayish drab, 
wings and tail blackish, wings with large 
white patch at base of quills, and wing 
bars, tippings, and edgings white, outer 
tail feathers largely white; underparts white, 
washed with clay-color; iris pale yellow. 
Young: Upperparts brown, breast and 
sides thickly spotted with dusky. 
Range. —Breeds chiefly in Sonoran 
Zones from central California, southern 
Wyoming, and northwestern Nebraska 
south to Oaxaca and Cape San Lucas. 
State Records. —The Western Mock¬ 
ingbird is one of the common birds of 
New Mexico, breeding north to Montoya, 
Anton Chico, Taos (Bailey); Rinconada 
(Surber); [Santa Fc (Jensen)]; ChamaRiver 
(Ligon); and Farmington (Knowlton). From Biological survey 
[It is most abundant along the Rio Grande Fig. 97. Mockingbird ( Mimus polyglot - 
from Albuquerque south; very abundant t° s polyglottos) 
about Palomas Springs (Ligon, 1916- Singing in every feather 
1918).] It nests from 3,800 feet at Mesilla 
Merrill); to 7,000 feet at Taos (Bailey); to 7,200 feet at Inscription Rock (Henshaw); 
[and 7,500 feet near San Mateo, north of Mount Taylor, nesting in June (Ligon, 
1916-1918).] On the Carlsbad Bird Reserve it was plentiful, April 27,1914 (Cooper). 
[From Silver City to the Mexican boundary it was common May 6-10, 1920 (Ligon). 
At Lake Burford, May 23-June 19, 1918, it was fairly common, nesting (Wetmore). 
It nests around Santa Fe about the same time (Jensen, 1923).] A nest with six 
eggs was found at Cooney, April 19, 1890 (Barrell); one egg, June 7, 1903, at Santa 
Rosa (Bailey); one egg, June 8, 1913, at Chloride (Ligon); many dead young in 
nests on the Penasco River, June 20, 1913, killed by a heavy hailstorm (Ligon); 
it nests from the latter part of May to late in July at Mesilla Park (Merrill). [In 
the Pecos Valley it was found between Roswell and Fort Sumner, June 16-21, 1918 
(Ligon).] 
Outside of the breeding season it ranges to 9,000 feet at Cloudcroft, July 19, 
1901 (Fuertes); and to 10,000 feet in the Mogollon Mountains (Metcalfe). 
During the winter it is fairly common at Mesilla (Merrill), and a few remain 
at this season even as high as 6,000 feet at Silver City (Marsh). It is strictly 
migratory in northern New Mexico and leaves for the south in the early fall; one 
was seen near Koehler Junction, August 9, 1913 (Kalmbach); another near Santa 
males, which are like the females, protecting them in their brushy 
environment and when they sing in the open. The Mockingbird is the 
most famous singer among them, 
but they all have good voices 
(Coues). 
WESTERN MOCKINGBIRD: Mimus 
polyg!6ttos leucopterus (Vigors) 
