ranches. At the end of the 20th century
there were about 3,000 Miwok.
#More to explore
Missions, Spanish • Native Americans
Mockingbird
Mockingbirds are songbirds known for
imitating the songs of other birds. The
common, or northern, mockingbird
may learn the songs of more than 30
other kinds of birds. It may also imitate
such sounds as the cackling of a hen or
the barking of a dog. Mockingbirds sing
their own musical songs, too.
Mockingbirds live in bushy areas and
suburbs in the Americas. The common
mockingbird is found in the United
States and Mexico. The blue mockingbird
lives in Mexico. Several other species,
or types, of mockingbird live in
Central and South America.
Mockingbirds are medium-sized birds
with slim bodies and long tails. They are
mostly gray or brownish. Common
mockingbirds are about 10.5 inches (27
centimeters) long.
The bill of a mockingbird is strong and
slender, with a slight downward curve.
Mockingbirds use their bills to eat
insects, seeds, and berries.
Mockingbirds strongly defend their territory.
In fact, many types will attack
dogs, cats, or even humans whom they
see as a threat.
#More to explore
Bird • Songbird
Like the
nightingale
(another bird
that is famous
for its singing),
the mockingbird
often
sings at night.
A common mockingbird perches on a cactus
in the U.S. state of Texas.
150 Mockingbird BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Modoc
..see Klamath and Modoc.
Mogadishu
Population
(2007 estimate)
1,100,000
Mogadishu is the capital of Somalia, a
country in northeastern Africa. It is the
country’s largest city. It is also a major
port on the Indian Ocean. Mogadishu is
an ancient city that enjoyed wealth and
power long ago. But it was seriously
damaged during a civil war in the late
20th and early 21st centuries. The war
also hurt the city’s economy.
Arab settlers founded Mogadishu in the
900s. It grew into a wealthy trading city.
In the 1500s Mogadishu began to
decline. Rulers from local kingdoms
took control of the city.
Italy took over Mogadishu and the surrounding
area in the late 1800s. The city
later became the capital of the colony
called Italian Somaliland.
In 1960 Somalia became an independent
country with Mogadishu as its
capital. Different groups began fighting
for control of Somalia in the 1990s.
Much of the fighting took place in
Mogadishu.
..More to explore
Somalia
Mohawk
The Mohawk were one of the five original
Native American tribes of the Iroquois
Confederacy. The confederacy was
a group of tribes that lived in upper
New York State and spoke similar languages.
The Mohawk originally lived in
what is now the Mohawk River valley.
Like the other Iroquois tribes, the
Mohawk lived in longhouses. Longhouses
were large, barn-shaped homes
made from wooden frames covered with
bark. A longhouse was big enough to
house several families. The Mohawk
grew corn, beans, and squash. They
fished in the summer and hunted in the
fall and winter.
In the early 1600s Europeans from
England and the Netherlands began
arriving in Mohawk territory. The
Despite a civil war, children still go to
school in Mogadishu, Somalia.
During the
1900s,
Mohawk men
became
famous for
their skill as
construction
workers on
skyscrapers.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Mohawk 151
Mohawk traded furs with them for
metal tools, guns, and other goods. In
the 1630s and 1640s smallpox and other
diseases brought by the Europeans killed
two thirds of the Mohawk.
During the American Revolution
(1775–83) Mohawk warriors helped
English troops fight the American colonists.
When the Americans won the war,
some Mohawk moved to Canada. In the
early 21st century thousands of Mohawk
people lived in the Canadian provinces
of Quebec and Ontario. Others lived in
the U.S. state of New York.
#More to explore
American Revolution • Iroquois
• Native Americans
Mohegan
The Mohegan are a Native American
people who originally lived in what is
now eastern Connecticut. When English
settlers arrived in their territory the
Mohegan became friends of the settlers.
Because of this the Mohegan became the
most powerful tribe in southern New
England in the late 1600s.
The Mohegan lived in dome-shaped
homes called wigwams. They fished,
farmed, and hunted. The Mohegan’s
most important crop was corn. They
also grew beans and squash.
In the early 1600s European settlers
began arriving in New England. At the
time the Mohegan were under the control
of Sassacus, a chief of the neighboring
Pequot tribe. The Mohegan
eventually rebelled against Sassacus and
became independent. The leader of the
rebellion was named Uncas. He made
the Mohegan tribe stronger by forming
an alliance with the English.
In 1637 English settlers started a war
against the Pequot. Most of the Pequot
were killed. The Mohegan took over
most of the Pequot lands. The Mohegan
A large boulder called Cochegan Rock is
important to the Mohegan people. It is
thought to be where the leader Uncas held
tribal councils, or meetings. It is located in
the eastern part of the state of Connecticut.
Joseph Brant was a Mohawk
chief who supported the British
during the American Revolution.
152 Mohegan BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
