I found these only about Galveston. They were in large flocks, and associated with them were Eremophila chrysolama, Southwestern Sky. lark, and Neocorys spraguii, Missouri Skylark. They frequented the sandy ridges adjoining the salt-marshes. In habits they reminded me of P. lapponicus, Lapland Longspur, as I saw them in Minnesota last year. When flushed, they dart from side to side, taking a swift, irregular course, never very high, and suddenly drop down among the grass-tussocks, with their heads toward you. They are so quiet and so much the color of their surroundings that they are seen with difficulty. They fly in such scattered flocks that a single discharge of the gun can seldom bring down more than one or two. That they extend farther south than the vicinity of Galveston I very much doubt, for we would, in all probability, have noticed them if they had been farther down the coast. PASSERCULUS SAVANNA, (Wils.) Bp.-Savanna Sparrow. The several specimens secured were found on or near the ground, and mostly in old resaca beds, where tall grass abounds. I found none at all at Hidalgo, probably owing to the higher ground, distance from the coast, and few openings. POŒCETES GRAMINEUS CONFINIS, (Gm.) Bd.—Western Grass Finch. Both of the specimens secured were shot in low bushes; one by the side of the road, and the other in the openings of the chaparral, among the cactus. From the nature of the country, all of the ground birds are extremely difficult to study or even shoot. The great abundance of impenetrable thickets give them convenient and safe cover at all times. I will say here that during the whole trip not a single nest of the numerous small birds was found on the ground or in a low bush. It is worse by far than collecting on the Western prairies, for here one cannot even ride over or step near the nests to expose the eggs by flushing the bird. Apr. 9, Brownsville. Apr. 29, Hidalgo. 185— ♂ −6.60 x 10.90 x 3.35 x 2.75. AMMODROMUS MARITIMUS, (Wils.) Sw.-Seaside Finch. We did very little shore collecting, owing to frequent changes of locality and inconveniences for preserving. Galveston was the only point where I shot this species; none, however, were prepared. I have no doubt that this bird, as well as A. caudacutus, Sharp-tailed Finch, resides the year round on the whole of the Texas coast. Bull. iv. No. 1-2 MELOSPIZA LINCOLNI, (Aud.) Bd.—Lincoln's Finch. This bird was seen in small flocks about the low bushes in exposed places in the vicinity of Brownsville. Farther up the river I did not notice any. They were full of song, and rather shy, darting into the bushes at my approach. PEUCEA CASSINI,* (Woodh.) Bd.-Cassin's Finch. This shy Finch is quite common about Brownsville early in the season. Its colors render it almost invisible while at rest. At the first sight of man, it darts into the thickest of bushes, and is with difficulty frightened out. It is a sweet singer, and, when undisturbed, is usually perched on the topmost branches of low bushes. Its song, although not loud, is quite distinct from that of other birds, and once heard cannot be mistaken. I did not meet with it above Brownsville. AMPHISPIZA BILINEATA, (Cass.) Coues.-Black-throated Finch. These beautiful little birds, almost as restless as the Titmice, were found in all suitable localities on the Rio Grande. At the time I saw them they were always in pairs, and not at all shy, and I enjoyed watching them exceedingly. I refrained from shooting many, with a view to finding their eggs. Every few days I would visit certain localities, where I never failed to find the birds, but was quite unsuccessful in finding their nests. There is a bush on the Rio Grande, whose name I could not learn, common in exposed and dry places, usually on barren knolls bordering the resacas, whose scanty leaves are so small that it at all times presents a dull and lifeless appearance. It is this bush that the Blackthroated Finches like to frequent. The male will sit on the top of a bush, four or five feet from the ground, and sing to his mate by the hour, she meanwhile flitting from bush to bush, as if her nest was near, though in no way manifesting any alarm. On the 6th of May I shot a nearly full-grown young, this showing that they begin to lay very early. # 122-3 123-Q 292-3 298-3 -5.40 x 8.25 x 2.50 x 2.35. 381-3 juv.-5.10 x 8.00 x 2.50 x 2.00. Mar. 31, Brownsville. Apr. 29, Hidalgo. May 6, Hidalgo. [Important specimens, illustrating this good species in its purity. See the correction of the error I committed in the "Key", in Birds of the Northwest, p. 140.-E. C.] SPIZELLA SOCIALIS, (Wils.) Bp.-Chipping Sparrow. 3.25 -5.25 x 9.25 x 2.75 x 2.50. May 1, Hidalgo. SPIZELLA PALLIDA, (Sw.) Bp.-Clay-colored Sparrow. The single specimen was shot in a low bush just outside of the village of Hidalgo. Nothing whatever noticed of its habits. 290-Q-5.75 x 8 x 2.25 x 2.50. Apr. 28, Hidalgo. ZONOTRICHIA LEUCOPHRYS, (Forst.) Sw.-White-crowned Sparrow. These birds were all in poor plumage, as they were undergoing their spring moult. They were abundant about hedges, fences, and thickets, in company with C. grammica, Lark Finch. I did not take any var. intermedia, which takes the place of this species when it leaves for the North. I presume I could have obtained them before I left if I had not been occupied with other birds. CHONDESTES GRAMMICA,* (Say) Bp.-Lark Finch. I found this bird very common about Brownsville, but quite scarce farther up the river. Generally seen about brush-fences and in meadows with scattered clumps of trees; sometimes in broken flocks, and again apparently in pairs. My first one was shot on the ground, where it seemed to be feeding alone. I frequently came upon companies of them on the ground. They were often seen in company with Z. leucophrys, White-crowned Sparrow. A large number of birds was taken, but only a few measured. 90——6.50 x 11.00 x 3.50 x 2.75. Mar. 27, Brownsville. EUSPIZA AMERICANA, (Gm.) Bp.-Black-throated Bunting. These two birds were the only ones we happened to meet with, and they were shot in open woodland, in company with Blue Grosbeaks and Orioles. 314-9-6.00 x 9.75 x 3 x 2.25. Apr. 30, Hidalgo. GONIAPHEA CERULEA, (L.).-Blue Grosbeak. Not very abundant, yet breeding all along the Lower Rio Grande. At Hidalgo, a pair was noticed continually about the river-bank. We were careful not to shoot them, and the citizens joined us in trying to * [Stet grammica. I see no authority for the current form, "grammaca”.—E. C.] find their nest. One day, by accident, I discovered it. About May 1st, several of us were coming along the beaten path from the ferry. I turned aside to take a short cut through the weeds, which grew nearly as tall as my head. Not more than ten feet from the path I came upon a partly overturued nest, containing four young. Their pin-feathers, though just started, showed deep blue on the wings. The nest was about four and one-half feet from the ground, and composed of grasses twined around the weed-stalks, after the manner of Blackbirds' building. It was by no means firmly built nor tightly bound to the stalks, and some cattle had evidently nearly tipped the little household out. I righted the nest, bound it to a fresh stalk or two, and left it. All the time we were examining and working at the nest, the parents were sitting on a woodpile close by, showing no alarm whatever. CYANOSPIZA CIRIS, (L.) Bd.-Painted Finch. April 25th, at Hidalgo, was the first we saw of this beautiful bird, after which we saw one or two daily. They were extremely shy. The specimen obtained is remarkable, having every outward appearance of being a female, and yet being a male, with fully developed testicles. Two of us examined it with great care, and deliberated over the case; therefore, there is no chance of a mistake.* 362--5.50 x 9.00 x 2.75 x 2.40. May 4, Hidalgo. CYANOSPIZA VERSICOLOR, (Bp.) Bd.-Western Nonpareil. I did not obtain any specimens of this bird, but I saw and compared two fine males † shot by Dr. Merrill near Brownsville while I was up the river. CYANOSPIZA CYANEA, (L.) Bd.—Indigo-bird. I have to note seeing a number of these beautiful and familiar birds on the Rio Grande, at a ranche, when our boat stopped for wood on April 15th. While the crew were cutting the wood, I improved the delay by taking the gun and sauntering about. I must have seen at least a dozen of these birds, of both sexes. They persisted in either staying on the farther side of an impenetrable brush-fence or else out in the thicket over a swamp. To shoot them in either case would have been unprofitable, for I could not have recovered the birds. They were sing. ing very sweetly, and were the only ones I met during the trip. * [The plumage is absolutely that of the mature female, to which sex any ornithologist would refer the specimen without hesitation but for the author's positive testimony to the contrary.-E. C.] + See Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, ii. n. 4, 109, Oct. 1877. PYRRHULOXIA SINUATA, Bp.-Texas Cardinal. In the close vicinity of Brownsville, I found these birds quite abun dant. I first met them while after some Cowbirds, Molothrus æneus, in a brush-fence, near the Catholic cemetery, and shot two females. One day, by following up the fences just without the city, one on each side, we obtained eleveu, and out of the lot only one was a male. At Hidalgo, we met occasionally solitary pairs in the thickets away from habitations. Their habits I found to be much like those of the Cardinal Redbird, only they keep closer to the ground. We searched everywhere for their nests, but with no success. Out of over twenty specimens secured, there were only three males. I several times heard the whistle of the male, and I could readily distinguish it from the note of cardinalis. I found this species very shy; and when surprised, instead of flying boldly off to another bush, it would invariably dart toward the ground, and fly along the brush, behind some projection, or through the fence to the opposite side, so that a shot on the wing was out of the question. Their skins are extremely tender, and their skulls are expanded, so that great care must be observed in skinning, or ugly rents will be the result. That they breed along the Lower Rio Grande, there can be no doubt, and we may expect before long full accounts of their breeding habits. 120-Q-8.00 x 11.00 x 3.50 x 4.00. Mar. 31, Brownsville. Apr. 5, Brownsville. 5, Brownsville. CARDINALIS VIRGINIANUS, (Brisson) Bp.-Cardinal Redbird. The habits of this familiar bird are too well known, both in the gardens of the South and in captivity, to need any further notice. So far, however, from finding them as tame on the Rio Grande as they are represented to be elsewhere, the reverse is true. We found them quite common, yet very shy. A number of nests and sets of eggs were obtained. They were generally taken in dense thickets, some five feet from the ground; but we found one nest and two eggs, seven feet from the ground, in a busby tree; and another, only two and one-half feet from the ground, in a thicket. First nest and three fresh eggs found April 28th. Their nests vary greatly, according to location; some are bulky, and others hardly more than would answer for a Carolina Dove. Spanish moss enters largely into the outside, together with twigs and leaves. The lining is composed of rootlets and pliant twigs, and sometimes grasses also. The eggs are dull white, blotched and speckled all over, but more heavily at the larger end, with brown; generally the spots are lengthened, which gives the eggs the appearance of being streaked. |