_Mimus polyglottos polyglottos. Case 4; Fig. 76_
To be confused in color only with the Loggerhead
Shrike, but larger, with a longer tail, no black
on the face and totally different habits. L.
10-1/2.
_Range._ Nests from the Gulf to Iowa and Maryland;
rarely to Massachusetts; winters from Maryland
southward.
Washington, uncommon P.R., less numerous in
winter. Cambridge, rare S.R., Mch. to Nov.
No southern garden is complete without a Mockingbird to guard its
treasures with his harsh alarm-note and extol its beauties in his
brilliant, varied song. He is to the South what the Robin is to the
North--and more, for he is present throughout the year while the Robin
is with us only during the nesting season.
The Mocker builds in bushes, orange-trees or other dense vegetation,
from late March, in southern Florida, to early May in Virginia. The 4-6
eggs are blue heavily marked with brown.