Mimus polyglottus
Order Passeriformes
Family Mimidae
Adult.— Upper parts ash-gray; wings blackish, with a broad white three inner pairs of tail-feathers black, fourth and fifth pairs white, edged with black, outer pair white; under parts grayish-white.
Nest, of twigs, weed-stalks, etc., in a thick bush or low tree.
Eggs, bluish or greenish, spotted with reddish-brown.
The Mockingbird is a rare visitant in southern New England and the lower Hudson Valley; there are several records of its breeding in New England, notably near Springfield. Single birds are not infrequently seen, especially in the fall or early spring; some of these may, of course, be escaped cage-birds. An observer must guard carefully against taking a Shrike for a Mockingbird; the two birds resemble each other somewhat in figure and coloration, but the Shrike in adult plumage has black wings and tail and a black stripe through the eye, while the Mockingbird has brown wings and tail and a gray head. If the bill can be examined at close range, the two birds can be readily distinguished; the Shrike’s is like a Hawk’s, thick and hooked; the Mockingbird’s is like a Catbird’s, long and rather slender, with no hook.
Hoffmann – A Guide to the Birds of New England and Eastern New York (1904)
A common bird species that has been extending its range over the years.