Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/722

* MOCHNACKI. 644 MODENA. valuable flistory of the .<ilio)iut hmurnctivii in I'olmid in Ifi-iO and lS.il (1834). MOCKING-BIRD {Mimiis polygloUos). The most I'aiiious, if not the swcetcsl and most beauti- ful, of Anieiieaii soiij^sters. It receives its popu- lar uame from its extranriliiiary powers of vocal imitation. It is often called nioeking-tlirush,' and was formerly con.sidered a ])e(iiliarly modified thrush, but now, with its near relatives the cat- bird and brown thrasher, it is olassified very near the wrens. The genus Minuis is characterized by the elongate form, long tail, short wings, and straight bill, nuieh shorter than the head, notched near the tip, and whiteness of the plumage on the inferior surface of tlie body. The mocking-bird is about ten or eleven inches long, the tail being nearly <me-half the total length. The upper parts are ashy-gray; the wings and tail arc nearly black, extensively marked with white; under parts grayish-white. The bird is very common in the South Atlantic and Gulf States, and in summer ranges as far north as Massachusetts and westward to the Pacific coast. The nest is built in bushes and low trees. It is made of twigs, leaves, weed-stalks, and grasses, lined with root- lets, cotton, etc. The eggs are four to si.x in number, pale gi-eenish-blue. heavily spotted and blotched, especially near the larger end, with bright brown. Two and sometimes three broods are reared in the season, which begins early in the spring and lasts until the end of the summer. During the spring and early summer the birds sing all day and even all night, and in many localities the air rings with tlieir nuisic. Their native song is extraordinarily beautiful, but it has in addition tlic jiowcr of reproducing the songs of other liirds with such accuracy as to de- ceive even the iniil;iled birds. There is, however, very great individual diirerence in this power, for while some birds seem seldom to attempt any mimicry, others are constantly imitating the sounds which they hear. When taken from the nest, young mocking- birds readily bectune accustomed to cage life, and may live for many years. They are easily tauglit and often improve greatly with careful training. The food of the mocking-binl is largely com- posed of insects and berries or seeds. An in- habitant of gardens and roadsides, fond of human habitations, and seldom seen in the woods, the mocking-bird is often found in villages and even in the streets of large towns. Resides the common mocking-bird, more than a dozen other sjiecies of Miums occur in the West Indies, Mexico, Central and South .mcrica. The 'mountain mockingbird' tOrnscopIrs mnnlnnnn) of the Western I'nited States is a much smaller and quite different bird, ami not especially nota- ble as a songster. See Colored Plate of SoNO- Btros with Thrush. MOCKING WREN. The Carolina wren. Sec Wiif . MOCK MOONS. See lI.M.o. MOCK ORANGE. A hardy flowering shrub. See Pim.Ai>h:i.iMtrs. MOCK SUNS. See lI.M.o. MOD'DER, or Kaiba. RIVER. A left affluent of (be aal Hiver. South .frica, which it joins after an eastern course of ISO niiles, al)out •'!! miles above its junction with the Orange River (Map: Cape Colony. K .'>). During the war of 1 89!)- 1002 its banks were the scene of nuich fight- ing and witnessed the rejjulse of the British troops at .Maagersfontcin in ISilil, and the sur- render of Cronje at Paardeberg in 1900. MODELING (from niuilrl, from OF. mudelle, Fr. iiiiiilih, from hat. "ntoil) lliis. from modulus, standard, diminutive of modus, measure). The process of preparing the original pattern or de- sign from which a work in sculpture is to lie cast or carved. Modeling is also practiced by medalists; the head or tigure intended to be cut in the die being first modeled in relief with wax on a piece of slate. Goldsmiths, silversniitlis, and jewelers also model intricate and artistic forms and ornaments of pieces of plate, to be cast and cliased by them, or in which jewels are to be set. Modeling is also a branch of the potter's trade. For large models, the material employed is pot- ter's clay, which, when used by sculjitors, is mixed with a porticm of sandstone, finely pulver- ized, to make it work freely. In painting, the term modeling is used to denote that quality which conveys to the eye the .sense of projection, volume, and bulk of an object. MODEL YACHTING, riic pastime of sail- ing model yachts. In Kngland it is known as 'mini- ature yaciiting.' uniler which name it v:is first generally practiced in .mcriea. The boats ised were either exact models to .scale of well-known large yachts, or of such ]x>rfection as to be capa- ble of being built full size from the models — thus considerably improving the .sailing capacity of the models. The model department is one of the most important branches of modern shipbuild- ing yards, owing to the practice of 'trying out' important yachts in the shape of models before proceeding with full size construction. In this manner, faults in design are discovered and reme- died. The yachts are rigged with careful accu- racy, and are mechanically self-steering. There is a variety of devices for this pirpose. Some- have wire springs which, when the pressure of the wind has been removed, return the rudder to its original fixed angle; but a traveler about three-quarters of an inch aft of the tiller head, threaded with (wo screws, will, in the hands of an operator who knows his business and the prevail- ing winds, be sullicient. Models steered with this device may frequently jibe back and forth, but they will, at the end of a mile run, invariably arrive within a very short distance from the exact spot for which they were started. The use of 's|iinnakers has never been successful. The principal races are those between the boats nf the Miniature Yacht Club, (he Wave Crest, and the .American Model Yacht Club of New York. Plans, diagrams, and full instructions for build- ing and sailing will lie found in a scries of arti- cles puliljshcil in (luliiiii for February and March, ISO,') Mild ISiltl, by Franklyn Massford. MODENA, mo'da-na (T.at.. ^^utin(l). A for- iiu T iliicliy ill Northern Italy, south of (he Pn, in- cluded in the compnrlimcnlo of F.milia in the modern Kingdom of Italy. The lioman colony of Mitina was founded on (he .1']milian Way about B.C. 220, after the conquest of Cisalpine fiaul. Modena was acquired by (he House of Este (q.v.) in 128S. and in 14.'>2 the Alarquis Porso d'Este was made Duke of Modena by the F.mperor Frederick Til. lie w:is a( the same time niak<' Duke of Ferrara by the Pope, and the po- IKical destinies of the two cities were therefore