Nevertheless Azara says truly that the Calandria does not mock or mimic the songs of other birds; for though the style and intonation of a score of different singers, chatterers, and screamers are reproduced by him, one can never catch a song, or even a portion of a song, of which he is able to say that it is absolutely like that of any other species. This much, however, can be said of the Calandria: he has a passion for endless variety in singing, a capacity for varying his tones to almost any extent, and a facility for catching the notes of other birds, which, in the Virginian Mocking-bird of North, and in the White-banded Mocking-bird of South America, has been developed into that marvellous faculty these two species possess of faithfully imitating the songs of all other birds. The two species I have just named, while mockers of the songs of other birds, also retain their own original music--their "natural song," as an American ornithologist calls it. The Calandria makes its nest in the middle of a large bush or low thorn-tree standing by itself; it is deep, like the nest of a Thrush in form, built of sticks, thorns, and grass, and lined with thistle-down or some other soft material. The eggs are four or five, pale blue, and thickly marked with reddish-brown spots. When the nest is approached the parent birds demonstrate their anxiety by uttering loud harsh angry notes. It is generally believed that the Calandria will not live in captivity. I have, however, seen a few individuals in cages, but they never sang. 7. MIMUS PATACHONICUS (d'Orb. et Lafr.). (PATAGONIAN MOCKING-BIRD.) +Mimus patachonicus+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 3; _Hudson, P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 538 (Rio Negro); _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 31 (Chupat); _Döring, Exp. al Rio Negro, Zool._ p. 36 (R. Colorado); _Sharpe, Cat. B._ vi. p. 352. +Mimus thenca+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 475 (Mendoza)? _Description._--Above and beneath grey, paler on the under surface, and tinged with rufous on the belly; throat and mark over the eye white; wings black, the outer webs of the feathers edged with white and grey; tail black, tipped with white; bill and feet black; eye olive-green: total length 9·2 inches, wing 4·2, tail 4·0. _Female_ similar, but smaller in size and lighter in colour. _Hab._ Northern Patagonia.