1887.] PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. G69 



Family COKVID.E. Crows, Jays, etc. 



Genus CYANOCITTA Strickland. 



158. Cyanocitta cristata floriiicola Coues. Floiidii Blue J:iy. 



On March 11, 18S7, while collecting at Leon Springs, I came up with 

 a party of four or five Blue Jays in a grove of hackberry and live-oak 

 trees. Supposing them to be the ordinary eastern bird, but one speci- 

 men was shot, and although they were seen several times at San An- 

 tonio no others were secured. Upon comparing my bird with typical 

 examples of Doctor Coues' new Florida race in the U. S. IS'^ational 

 Museum, I find it to agree perfectly with them. The principal charac- 

 ters that distinguish the Florida bird from the specific form consist in 

 the smaller size of the former and the much less amount of white on the 

 secondaries and the two outer rectrices. 



This Jay was sparingly represented at San Antonio during the winter; 

 generally in parties of four or five, and perfectly silent. A mounted 

 specimen was seen in a drug store at Corpus Christi, said to have been 

 shot near the town. I did not see the bird at Beeville. It is not men- 

 tioned in either of the papers of Brown or Hancock. Dresser "was 

 told by several hunters that the Blue Jay is found near San Antonio." 

 It was not met with by either Sennett or Merrill on the Rio Grande. 



Genus CORVUS Linnaeus. 



159. Corvus corax sinuatus (^VAGL.). Mexican Raven. 



Dresser found the Eaven "common at San Antonio, frequenting the 

 slaughter-houses," but I did not see or hear of it there. " Uncom- 

 mon; usually solitary, but on January 28 I noticed a flock of a dozen" 

 (Brown). 



160. Corvus americaiius Aud. American Crow. 



So far as my observations went, the Crow is a rare bird in the locali- 

 ties under consideration, as I did not meet with it but once — March 

 17 — when a solitary individual was seen at Leon Springs. Brown 

 records it as rare at Boerne, and Dresser states that it is "not common 

 between San Antonio and the Mexican frontier." 



Family ICTERID^E. Blackbirds, Orioles, etc. 



Genus MOLOTIIRUS Swainson. 



161. Molothrus ater (Bodd.). Cowbird. 



I took about three different kinds of the Cowbird in Texas : first, 

 typical 31. ater ; second, typical M. afcr obscurus ,- and third, specimens 

 intermediate between the two. Only six altogether were secured; one 

 male, M. ater, at Beeville, three female M. ater ohscurns at the same 

 place, and two males, intermediate, one at Beeville and the other at 

 San Antonio. The birds were very abundant, except at Leon Springs, 

 where none were seen. At Corpus Christi I found them in large flocks 



