MOCKING-BIRD. _Turdus polyglottus_, LINN. Syst. Nat. 10th ed. 1758, 169; 12th ed. 1766, 293.—_Mimus polyglottus_, BOIE, Isis, 1826, 972.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1856, 212.—IB. 1859, 340.—IB. Catal. 1861, 8, no. 51.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 344.—IB. Rev. 48.—SAMUELS, 167.—COOPER, Birds Cal. 1, 21.—GUNDLACH, Repertorio, 1865, 230 (Cuba).—DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 230.—COUES, Pr. A. N. Sc. 1866, 65 (Arizona).—_? Orpheus leucopterus_, VIGORS, Zoöl. Beechey, 1839. Figures: WILSON, Am. Orn. II, 1810, pl. x, fig. 1.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, pl. xxi.—IB. Birds Amer. II, 1841, pl. 137. SP. CHAR. Third and fourth quills longest; second about equal to eighth; the first half or more than half the second. Tail considerably graduated. Above ashy brown, the feathers very obsoletely darker centrally, and towards the light plumbeous downy basal portion (scarcely appreciable, except when the feathers are lifted). The under parts are white, with a faint brownish tinge, except on the chin, and with a shade of ash across the breast. There is a pale superciliary stripe, but the lores are dusky. The wings and tail are dark brown, nearly black, except the lesser wing-coverts, which are like the back; the middle and greater tipped with white, forming two bands; the basal portion of the primaries white; most extended on the inner primaries. The outer tail-feather is white, sometimes a little mottled; the second is mostly white, except on the outer web and towards the base; the third with a white spot on the end; the rest, except the middle, very slightly or not at all tipped with white. The bill and legs are black. Length, 9.50; wing, 4.50; tail, 5.00. [Illustration: _Mimus polyglottus._] _Young._ Similar, but distinctly spotted with dusky on the breast, and obsoletely on the back. HAB. North America, from about 40° (rare in Massachusetts, Samuels), south to Mexico. Said to occur in Cuba. The Mocking-Birds are closely allied, requiring careful comparison to distinguish them. A near ally is _M. orpheus_, of Jamaica, but in this the outer feather is white, and the 2d, 3d, and 4th tail-feathers are marked like the 1st, 2d, and 3d of _polyglottus_, respectively.