This year-round Florida resident is known for its fierce defense of the family nest. Besides these, as in allthe land-birds, there is a pair of very slender muscles, the cleido-tracheal,arising from the sides of the thyroid cartilage and inserted into the furcula.The bronchi are rather wide and short, of 12 cartilaginous half rings.As in all the birds of this family, there is a very slender salivarygland on each side, lying between the branch of the lower jaw and the mucousmembrane of the mouth, upon which latter it opens anteriorly to the frenumof the tongue. He drops upon it,takes it in his bill, beats it against the earth, and flies to the nestto feed and receive the warm thanks of his devoted female.When a fortnight has elapsed, the young brood demand all their careand attention. His beautiful wingsare gently raised, he bows to his love, and again bouncing upwards, openshis bill, and pours forth his melody, full of exultation at the conquestwhich he has made.They are not the soft sounds of the flute or of the hautboy that I hear,but the sweeter notes of Nature’s own music. The Florida Department of State manages our state's elections, corporations, historical and cultural resources and our libraries.The common mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) is a superb songbird and mimic. The mockingbird is the state bird of Texas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Florida, and Arkansas; President Thomas Jefferson had a pet mockingbird named “Dick.” This bird is very territorial and will not hesitate to attack intruders. Yesterday while doing some outdoor chores, we found a Florida Mockingbird nest inside a Robellini palm tree in our front yard. His tail is widely expanded,he mounts in the air to a small distance, describes a circle, and, againalighting, approaches his beloved one, his eyes gleaming with delight,for she has already promised to be his and his only. Whilst searching for food on the ground, their motionsare light and elegant, and they frequently open their wings as butterfliesdo when basking in the sun, moving a step or two, and again throwing outtheir wings.
The trachea is 1 inch 10 twelfths in length, considerably flattened,gradually tapering from 1 1/2 twelfths to 1 twelfth; the rings, which arefirm, are about 60, and 2 dimidiate rings.

Northern Mockingbirds make a harsh, dry chew or hew when mobbing nest predators or chasing other mockingbirds.
I have heard it asserted that they possess the power ofimitating the human voice, but have never met with an instance of the displayof this alleged faculty.Upper parts greyish-brown; feathers of the wings and tail greyish-black;tips of secondary coverts, edges of primary quills, and a large spot atthe end of the three lateral tail-feathers, white; lower parts whitish,marked with triangular dusky spots, of which there is a distinct line fromthe base of the bill; throat, middle of the breast, abdomen, and lowertail-coverts unspotted.In an adult male of this celebrated bird, the roof of the mouth is flat,with two narrow longitudinal palatal ridges, and an anterior median prominentline; the posterior aperture of the nares is oblongo-linear, margined withacute papillae, with which also the whole membrane of the palate is covered.The tongue is slender, 7 twelfths long, emarginate and papillate at thebase, channelled above, horny and thin toward the end, which is slit andlacerated. Itgrows along the sea-coast, especially near rivers, from Virginia to Florida,flowering through the summer. Northern Mockingbird Habitat.

There are 4 baby mockingbirds inside the nest, still very young with their eyes shut. The oesophagus, is 3 incheslong, and of the nearly uniform width of 4 1/2 twelfths, unless at thecommencement where it is a little wider. When travelling,this flight is only a little prolonged, as the bird goes from tree to tree,or at most across a field, scarcely, if ever, rising higher than the topof the forest. The Mockingbird, (Mimus polyglottos,) was adopted as the official state bird of Florida on April 23, 1927 by Florida Senate Concurrent Resolution No. Five eggs are deposited in due time, when themale having little more to do than to sing his mate to repose, attuneshis pipe anew. Mockingbirds also make a series of 2-8 short, scratchy chat calls to warn off intruders.