1887.] PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 679 



sucli an every -day oeciineiice for me to shoot oue or more of these lit- 

 tle birds, uot knowinjr Avhat they were when I lired, that finally I 

 never shot at a small Sparrow at all unless it was identified before 

 hand. Through this caution I am sure many a desirable bird escaped 

 me. At San Antonio they were always to be found in the patches of 

 dead weeds, thickets, meadows, etc., near the river. I never saw them 

 at all out in the luesquite, but at Corpus Christi a good many were ob- 

 served in the chaparral adjoining the town. It is evidently a late 

 loiterer in that vicinity, as Hancock, who collected there from March 

 16 to April 1, saw it " occasionally on every trip." It was still at San 

 Antonio when I left there, March 29. It is apparently not a winter 

 resident at Boerne, for Brown says : "Arrives March 4 5 common there- 

 after." Dresser found it very abundant from March to May near the 

 San Antonio River. He does not speak of finding it there as a winter 



resident. 



Genus PASSEEELLA Swainson. 



200. Pa.sserella iliaca (Merr.). Fox Sparrow. 



This is evidently an uncommon winter resident at San xVntonio, as I 

 saw it there but twice, one on January 11 and four or fi've on Jannary 

 18, in the dense weeds and bushes near the river. It is not in Dresser's 

 list at all, and I did not see it at any other place. Brown saw but tsvo 

 or three individuals at Boerne. 



Genus PIPILO Vieillot. 



201. Pipilo maculatus megalonyx (Bairo). Spurred Towheo. 



My series of Bipilos can with as much propriety be called arcticiis as 

 mef/alonyx. Those taken by Brown in Kendall County appear to have 

 been equally puzzling, but he also referred his birds to megalomjx, and 

 more for the sake of uniformity than accuracy, I refer mine to the same 

 race. Dresser calls the bird he found at San Antonio arcticm, and 

 states that he procured several there during the winter, implying that 

 they were not abundant, which is contrary to my experience, as it was 

 one of the most numerously represented of all the Frinc/iUidoe that 

 wintered in that locality. However, I never saw it there in the mes- 

 quite, but always in weed fiekis, thickets, etc., near the river. At Leon 

 Springs it was also rather common in the few suitable places there, 

 but at Beeville very few were observed, and at Corpus Christi only three 

 individuals came under my notice. The bird has a wren-like " screep," 

 utterly dissimilar to any note of the eastern bird, wliich it constantly 

 utters when alarmed. 

 202. Pipilo chlorurus (Towns.). Green-tailed Towliee. 



On December 23, while collecting in the mesquite just w^est of San 

 Antonio, I shot and winged oue of these Towhees, but after chasing it 

 until I was out of breath and temper through " cat's-claw," cacti, 

 and other thorny things, it escaped iw-, and I never saw the species 



