Mockingbird in Humboldt Country, California
Mockingbird in Humboldt County, California
Early in the winter of 1922. Mrs. Ida Varley, of Ferndale; Humboldt County, California, heard the unmistakable song of the Western Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos leucopterus) from her roof top. Going out to see this unheard-of bird in this locality, she watched him as he perched on the roof, singing softly, as though not feeling quite at home. He remained about the place for several hours, but did not sing again. After a few days of apparent absence, he reappeared, and has remained in the vicinity of Mrs. Vailey's home-making visits also to the grounds of near neighbors-at least up to December 27, when the writer saw him there, and observed him for several hours.
The bird is alone so far as any other of his species is concerned, and the birds of other local species regard him as an alien, his appearance in any bush or tree being a signal for every other bird to depart at once. He feeds on the scarlet fruits of the cotoneaster and hawthorn. Since the first song, he has not been heard to sing again.
There is no possibility of mistake as to the identity of this bird, the writer having had a familiar acquaintance with the Mockingbird for twenty-five years in southern California. Mrs. Varley also has known the species for many years in the central part of the state.
Charlotte M. Wilder
Carlotta, California, January 13, 1923
