HOST RELATIONS OF PARASITIC COWBIRDS 149 



The data from Texas is incomplete. Tlie late G. F. Simmons wrote 

 me that, shortly after the publication of his book on the bu-ds of the 

 Austin region (1925), he was informed of a local instance of cowbird 

 parasitism on this goldfinch. The race of this bu'd breeding in the 

 Austin area is the nominate one, S.p. psaltria. 



Lawrence's Goldfinch 



Spinus lawrencei (Cassin) 



This goldfinch is known as a victim of the brown-headed cowbird 

 on the basis of two records, both from southern California. H. R. 

 Eschenberg informed me that he had found a nest with 4 eggs of the 

 goldfuich and 1 of the dwarf race of the cowbird at Gih'oy, on June 20, 

 1934. In the collections of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at 

 Berkeley, there is a set of 1 egg of this host and 2 of the dwarf cow- 

 bird, collected at Candalanga, Ventura County, by Ash worth. 



Red Crossbill 

 Loxia curvirostra (Linnaeus) 



On the whole, the red crossbill is ecologically allopatric with the 

 brown-headed cowbird, and thus it is generally unavailable as a host 

 for the latter. There is only a single case of cowbird parasitism on 

 record. Saunders and Dale (1933, p. 240) collected a nest with 3 

 eggs of the crossbill and 1 of the cowbu'd on April 29, 1909, two miles 

 east of London, Ontario. This instance refers to the race minor of 

 the crossbill, as now understood; previously I (1938, p. 49) had 

 listed this record as L.c. pusilla, a name now restricted to the popu- 

 lation breeding in Newfoundland. The cowbird involved is the typical 

 eastern race, M.a. ater. 



Olive Sparrow 



Arremonops rufivirgata (Lawrence) 



The nominate race of this sparrow is known as a victim of the small 

 race of the brown-headed cowbird, M.a. obscurus, on the basis of only 

 a few records. Merrill (1878, p. 130) hsted it as a cowbkd victim at 

 Brownsville, Texas; Sennett (1879, p. 396) also listed it. Probably 

 on the bases of one or both of these statements, Bendu-e (1895, p. 442) 

 included this sparrow as a victim of the dwarf cowbird. In the files 

 of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service there are two records, both from 

 southern Texas. Mr. Jolm B. Hurley informed me that he has in 

 his collection a parasitized set of eggs of this bird collected in Cameron 

 County, Texas, on July 12, 1927, by R. D. Camp. F. F. Nye, Jr. 

 (in litt.), found two more parasitized nests near Brownsville, Cameron 

 County, Texas. 



