Mockingbird
Mockingbirds are a group of New World passerine birds from the family Mimidae. They are best known for the habit of some species mimicking the songs of other birds and the sounds of insects and amphibians, often loudly and in rapid succession. There are about 17 species in two genera, although three species of mockingbird from the Galapagos Islands were formerly separated into a third genus, "Nesomimus". The mockingbirds do not appear to form a monophyletic lineage, as "Mimus" and "Melanotis" are not each other's closest relatives; instead, "Melanotis" appears to be more closely related to the catbirds , while the closest living relatives of "Mimus" appear to be thrashers, such as the sage thrasher. The only mockingbird commonly found in North America is the northern mockingbird "(Mimus polyglottos)". The Greek word means 'multiple languages'. Mockingbirds are known for singing late at night, even past midnight. Species in taxonomic order. "Mimus": Formerly "Nesomimus" (endemic to the Galapagos): "Melanotis": Charles Darwin. When the survey voyage of HMS "Beagle" visited the Galápagos Islands in September to October 1835, the naturalist Charles Darwin noticed that the mockingbirds "Mimus thenca" differed from island to island, and were closely allied in appearance to mockingbirds  on the South American mainland. Nearly a year later when writing up his notes on the return voyage he speculated that this, together with what he had been told about Galápagos tortoises, could undermine the doctrine of stability of species. This was his first recorded expression of his doubts about species being immutable, which led to his being convinced about the transmutation of species and hence evolution.