Birds of this section have a somewhat thrush-like appearance, but (except in _Oreoscoptes_) with longer, much more graduated, and broader tail; short concave wings, about equal to or shorter than the tail, usually lengthened, sometimes decurved bill without notch, and strongly marked scutellæ on the anterior face of the tarsus. The loral feathers are soft, and not ending in bristly points. The colors are dull shades of brown, gray, or plumbeous. Most of the species, in addition to a melodious native song, possess the power of imitating the notes of other birds; sometimes, as in the American Mocking Bird, to an eminent degree. All are peculiar to the New World, and the species are much less vagrant than those of the _Turdinæ_,—those of the United States scarcely going beyond its northern boundary; others, again, restricted to small islands in the West Indies or in the Pacific Ocean. GENUS OREOSCOPTES, BAIRD. _Oreoscoptes_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 346. (Type _Orpheus montanus_, TOWNS.) _Oreoscoptes_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 42. [Line drawing: _Oreoscoptes montanus._ 8129] SP. CHAR. Bill shorter than the head, without distinct notch. Bristles prominent, their tips reaching beyond the nostrils. Wings pointed, equal to, or a little longer than the tail. First quill not half the second, about two fifths the longest; third, fourth, and fifth quills equal and longest; second between sixth and seventh. Tail but slightly graduated; the feathers narrow. Tarsus longer than middle toe and claw by an additional claw; scutellæ distinct anteriorly. Of this genus only one species is at present known. This belongs to the Middle and Western provinces of the United States and extends from the Pacific coast eastward to Fort Laramie and the Black Hills (in winter to San Antonio, Texas); south to Fort Yuma and Cape St. Lucas. Oreoscoptes montanus, BAIRD. SAGE THRASHER; MOUNTAIN MOCKER. _Orpheus montanus_, TOWNSEND, Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. VII, II, 1837, 192.—AUD. Birds Amer. II, 1841, 194, pl. cxxxix. _Turdus montanus_, AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 437, pl. ccclxix, fig. 1. _Mimus montanus_, BONAP. Consp. 1850, 276. _Oreoscoptes montanus_, BAIRD, Birds N. Amer. 1858, 347; Rev. Am. B. 1864, 42.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1859, 340.—IB. Catal. 1861, 8, no. 30.—COOPER, Birds Cal. 1, 12. SP. CHAR. First quill rather shorter than the sixth. Tail slightly graduated. Above brownish-ash; each feather obsoletely darker in the centre. Beneath dull white, thickly marked with triangular spots, except on the under tail-coverts and around the anus, which regions are tinged with yellowish-brown. Wing-coverts and quills edged with dull white. Tail feathers brown; the outer edged, and all (except, perhaps, the middle) tipped with white. Length, 8 inches; wing, 4.85; tail, 4.00; tarsus, 1.21. _Young._ Similar, but spots beneath less sharply defined, and the upper parts quite conspicuously streaked with dusky.