674 BIRDS OF SOUTHWESTERN TEXAS. 



winged freebooters happened to ine afterwards at Beeville, an account 

 of which is given in another pUice. " Not uuconimon in the summer 

 season near San Antonio, A. L. H" (Dresser). 



180. Ammodramus lecoiiteii (Aud.). LeConte's Sparrow. 



I did not get a specimen of this bird, but on December 21, in a wet. 

 boggy place, covered with a dense growth of dead weeds, near the San 

 Antonio River, I saw several individuals, and at one time was within 

 G or 8 feet of one, but their movements were so rapid, and thej' con 

 concealed themselves with such ease, that it was impossible to get a 

 shot. The identification of the species was entirely satisfactory to njc, 

 and conclusive. 



Genus CHONDESTES Swaixson. 



181. Chondestes grammaciis (Say). L;irk Sparrow. 



Upon my arrival at San Antonio, December 19, the Lark Sparrow was 

 discovered to be one of the most abundant birds there, and continued 

 so during the winter. They were most numerous in the fields near the 

 river and irrigating ditches, but a good many were always to be found 

 in the mesipiite. They were generally associated with the Vesper Spar- 

 row and other terrestrial finches. I often heard them singing at this 

 season, but in a weak, desultorj' way, as if they were not in the least bit 

 earnest about ir. They were common at San Antonio up to the time I 

 left there, March 29. On the 25th 1 shot a male and female at one dis- 

 charge of my gun; the male was in full nuptial song, and upon exam- 

 ination I found the testicles very much enlarged, indicating that they 

 were about to breed. ' 



At Corpus Christi, where I collected from January 21 to February 

 11, I found it rather common in the chaparral and mesquite "with other 

 sparrows, and in song, but did not see the bird at all at Beeville. Han. 

 cock records "several specimens in bright i^lumage 20 miles north of 

 Corpus Christi, March 27." At Leon Springs, March 10 to 18, I found 

 it quite common, and Brown states that it is common at Boerne after 

 IMarch 11, but is rare during the winter. Dresser says: " "Very abundant 

 throughout Texas during the summer, arriving in the neighborhood of 

 San Antonio late in March, and leaving early in October." It seems 

 from this note that he did not find the bird there during the winter at 

 all. This can only be explained in two ways; either he did not do any 

 collecting to speak of about San Antonio during the winter, where the 

 everpresent " norther" acts as a serious damper upon one's zeal for prac- 

 tical ornithology, or else that the birds were not there, but have since 

 that time extended their winter habitat to include this place. Had they 

 been one tenth as numerous then as I found them, it is hardly possible 

 that any collector could have overlooked them. 



182. Chondestes grammacus .strigatus (Swains.). Western Lark Sparrow. 



1 collected seven specimens of the Lark Finch in Texas; four at San 

 Antonio, two at Corpus Christi, and one at Leon Springs. Upon com- 



