Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/567

Rh M O D M O D 541 ance beyond its graceful form to recommend it ; but the lively gesticulations it exhibits are very attractive, and therein its European rival in melody is far surpassed, for the cock-bird mounts aloft in rapid circling night, and, alighting on a conspicuous perch, pours forth his ever- changing song to the delight of all listeners ; while his actions in attendance on his mate are playfully demonstra tive and equally interest the observer. The Mocking-bird is moreover of familiar habits, haunting the neighbourhood of houses, and is therefore a general favourite. The nest is placed with little regard to concealment, and is not dis tinguished by much care in its construction. The eggs, from three to six in number, are of a pale bluish-green, blotched and spotted with light yellowish-brown. They, as well as the young, are much sought after by snakes, but the parents are often successful in repelling these deadly enemies, and are always ready to wage war against any intruder on their precincts, be it man, cat, or hawk. Their food is various, consisting of berries, seeds, and insects. Some twelve or fourteen other speeies of Mimus have been recog nized, mostly from South America ; but M. orphcus seems to be common to some of the Greater Antilles, and M. hilli is peculiar to Jamaica, while the Bahamas have a local race in M. bahamcnsis. The so-called Mountain Mocking-bird (Oreoscoptes montanus) is a form not very distant from Mimus; but, according to Mr. Ridgway, it inhabits exclusively the plains overgrown with Artemisia of the interior tableland of North America, and is not at all imitative in its notes, so that it is an instance of a misnomer. Of the various other genera allied to Mimus, those known in the United States as Threshers, and belonging to the genus Harporhynchus of which six or eight species are found in North America, and are very Thrush-like in their habits must be mentioned ; but there is only room here to dwell on the Cat-bird (Galcoscoptcs carolinensis), which is nearly as accomplished an imitator of sounds as its more cele brated relative, with at the same time peculiar notes of its own, from one of which it has gained its popular name. The sooty -grey colour that, deepening into blackish-brown on the crown and quills, pervades the whole of its plumage the lower tail -coverts, which are of a deep chestnut, excepted renders it a conspicuous object ; and though, for some reason or other, far from being a favourite, it is always willing when undisturbed to become intimate with men s abodes. It has a much wider range on the American continent than the Mocking-bird, and is one of the few species that are resident in Bermuda, while on more than one occasion it is said to have appeared in Europe. The name Mocking-bird, or more frequently Mock-Xightingale, is in England occasionally given to some of the WARBLERS (q.v. ), especially the Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla), and the Sedge-bird (Acrocephalus scJucnobasnufi). In India and Australia the same name is sometimes applied to other species. (A. N.) MODENA, one of the principal cities of Northern Italy, formerly the capital of a duchy, and still the chief town of a province and the seat of an archbishop, is situated in the open country in the south side of the valley of the Po, between the Secchia to the west and the Panaro to the east. By rail it is 31 miles E.S.E. of Parma, 24 W.N.W. of Bologna, and 37 S. of Mantua. The observatory stands 135 feet above the level of the sea, in 44 38 52&quot; N. lat. and 10 55 42&quot; E. long. Dismantled since 1816, and now largely converted into promenades, the fortifications still give the city an irregular pentagonal contour, modified at the north-west corner by the addition of a citadel also penta gonal. Within this circuit there are various open areas- the spacious Piazza d Armi in front of the citadel, the public gardens in the north-east of the city, the Piazza Grande in front of the cathedral, and the Piazza lleale to the south of the palace. The yEmilian Way crosses obliquely right through the heart of the city, from the Bologna Gate in the east to that of Sant Agostino in the west. Commenced by the countess Matilda in 1099, after the designs of Lanfranc, and consecrated in 1184, the cathedral (St Geminian s) is a low but handsome building, with a lofty crypt, three eastern apses, and a facade still preserving some curious sculptures of the 12th and 15th centuries. The bell-tower, named La Ghirlandina from the bronze garland surrounding the weathercock, is lined with white marble, and is 315 feet high; in the basement may be seen the wooden bucket captured by the Modenese from the Bo- lognese in the affray at Zappolirio (1325), and rendered famous by Tassoni s Secchia J{&amp;lt;t/&amp;gt;ita. Of the other churches in Modena, San Pietro has terra-cottas by the local artist Begarelli, and S. Agostino (now S. Michele) contains the tomb of Sigonius and the tombstone of Muratori. The old ducal palace, begun by Duke Francis I. in 1G35 from the designs of Avanzini, and finished by Francis Ferdinand V., is an extensive marble building, and now contains the library (Bib. Palatina, see vol. xiv. p. 530), picture-gallery, and museum. Many of the best pictures in the ducal collection were sold in the 18th century, and found their way to Dresden. The valuable Muxeo Lapidario in a building near Porta Sant Agostino is well known to the 1. Museo Lapidario. 2. S. ARostino. I}. Academy of Fine Arts. Plan of Modena. 4. S. Domenico. 5. Uoyal Palace. 0. Archbishop s Palace. 10. S. Pietro. T. Cathedral. 8. Campanile GhirlaiiJina. 9. University. classical antiquary through Cavedoni s Dichiaradone def/li antichi manni Jfodenesi (1828), and the supplements in the Memoirs of the Academy, vol. ix., &c. The university of Modena, originally founded in 1G83 by Francis II., i.; mainly a medical and legal school, but has also a faculty of physical and mathematical science. It has abov.t twenty-five professors, and from 200 to 250 students ; a library of 20,000 volumes, an observatory, botanical gar dens, an ethnographical museum, &c. The old academy of the Dissonant i, dating from 1684, was restored by Francis in 1814, and now forms the flourishing Koyal Academy of Science and Art (Memoirs since 1833) ; and there arc besides in the city an Italian Society of Science founded by Anton Mario Lorgna, an academy of fine, arts, a military college (1859), an important agricultural college, and a lyceuin and gymnasium, both named after Muratori. In industrial enterprise the Modenese show bu&quot; little activity, silk and linen goods and iron-wares behi/j almost the only products of any note. Commerce i.-, stimulated by a good position in the railway system, and by a canal which opens a water-way by the Panaro and the Po to the Adriatic. The population of the city was 32,248 in 1861, and 30,854 in 1871 ; that of the com mune 55,512 in 18G1, and 58,058 in 1881. The DUCHY OF MODENA, an independent sovereign .stata