90 NORTH AMERICAN OOLOGY. PART I. 



CHORDEILES TEXENSIS. 



?? Chordeiles sapiti, BONAP. Cons. Av. 1849, p. 63. 



" CASSIN, Syn. N. A. Birds (Illust. Birds of Cal.), 1854, p. 238. 

 Chordeiles brasilianus, LAWRENCE, Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist, of N. Y. V, 1851, 114. 

 Chordeiles texensis, " " " " " " VI, 1856, 167. 



VULG. Parauque (Berlandier, Matamoras). 



NOTHING is known in regard to the habits, and but little as to the distribution, 

 of this newly discovered species. A bird supposed by Mr. Cassin to be the same 

 is given by Bonaparte (Cons. Av. 1849, p. 63), and is very similar in form and 

 general appearance to the preceding species. It differs chiefly in its size. In a 

 paper read before the New York Lyceum, April, 1851, by George N. Lawrence, 

 Esq., of New York, giving a list of additional birds to the North American Fauna, 

 reference is made to this bird as Chordeiles brasih'amis of Gmelin. In a subsequent 

 paper, read December, 1856, it is described as a new species, under the name of 

 Chordeiles texensis. The egg represented (Plate V, fig. 62) is supposed to be that of 

 this species, in part from the description of the parent bird given by Dr. Berlandier, 

 in whose collection it was found, and partly from its apparent affinity, in all but 

 size, to the eggs of the common Night-Hawk. It is possible, however, that it may 

 be the egg of the latter, though it is smaller, and its markings are of a lighter shade, 

 than I have ever observed in the eggs of that bird. 



The C. texensis has been observed in Texas, by Mr. Clark and Captain McCown ; 

 also in New Mexico, Mexico, and Central America, by other naturalists. 



The egg presumed to have belonged to a bird of this species may be described as 

 follows: length ly\ inches, breadth -if of an inch; ground color a clear crystal- 

 white, but so closely covered with overlying markings as not to be discernible except 

 when examined through a magnifying-glass. The egg is marked over its entire sur- 

 face with small, irregular confluent spots and blotches of a color that seems a com- 

 pound of black, umber, and purplish-gray. The general appearance of the egg is 

 that of a dark-grayish marble, and, as stated, it is smaller and of a lighter coloj than 

 that of the common Night-Hawk. 



