24 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 2 37 part i 



taken at Glenn Spring on June 4 and 5, 1935. Burleigh and Lowery 

 (1940) found the birds on the open desert east of Guadalupe Peak 

 of the Guadalupe Mountains at an elevation of 4,800 feet on April 29, 



1939. 



Herbert Brandt (1940) describes the nest and habits of the Texas 

 pyrrhuloxias he observed in Brewster County, Tex., as follows: 



In the three-forked crotch, shoulder-high, of an ungainly, blooming catclaw 

 was the grass-formed nest of a Texas Pyrrhuloxia containing two fresh, well 

 marked eggs, which are noticeably smaller than those of the Cardinal — a bird 

 we did not encounter in this region, although the Pyrrhuloxia was a common 

 thicket dweller in the chaparral bordering watered places. The Texas Pyrrhu- 

 loxia is one of the most startling creatures that I have ever lured to my call. 

 As he approaches, with loud round chirps, a vivid flash of crimson, a great blunt 

 bill of rich old ivory, and a tall crest tipped with deep wine red are one's first 

 impressions. Closer inspection shows his lower mandible to be conspicuously 

 thicker than even the broad upper one.wWch is sharply decurved and gives the 

 bird a parrot-like countenance; while the variable expressive crest creates a 

 versatility of facial expression. His cheery whistle is neither as loud nor as pure 

 ns the Cardinal's, having a rather reedy quality, nor does he seem to be so per- 

 sistent a singer. But like the latter, he responds eagerly to human imitation 

 of bird-calls, approaching the observer with his motile crest sharply erect. In 

 hand, each light gray feather of the breast has but the tip sprayed more or less 

 with crimson, and the breast looks as though a paint brush had been passed 

 hastily but once across the bird's plumage, yet this fiery pigment is so intense 

 that in life it amazes the eye and arouses the admiration of the beholder. * * * 

 The female lacks that lively color, and thus simulates protectively the more 

 modest tones of her dun desert home. 



In Mexico, Sutton and Burleigh (1939) found the Texas pyrrhuloxia 

 about Monterey, Nuevo Le6n, during the period Jan. 28 to Feb. 8, 

 1938. It was fairly common in the San Pedro district of Coahuila 

 and in Victoria, Tamaulipas. On Feb. 15-17, 1938, they found it 

 present at an elevation of 2,500 feet on the Mesa del Chipinque. 

 Burleigh and Lowery (1942) foimd several pairs in a small arroyo in 

 the open desert country west of Saltille, Coahuila, Mexico, on Apr. 22, 

 1941. Amadon and PhiUips (1947) collected an immature Texas 

 pyrrhuloxia at Las Delicias, Coahuila, Aug. 10, 1946. Sutton and 

 Burleigh (1940b) found these birds in thorny thickets about Valles, 

 San Luis Potosi. These and other records show the Texas pyrrhuloxia 

 to be well represented throughout northeastern Mexico. 



Eggs. — The number of eggs laid by the pyrrhuloxia varies from two 

 to four, and rarely five, with three or four composing the usual set. 

 They are usually ovate in shape and somewhat glossy. The ground is 

 grayish white or greenish white, variously speckled, spotted, or 

 blotched with shades of browns such as "pecan brown," "mummy 

 bro^vn," "sayal brown," "tawny-olive," or "Soccardo's umber," 

 with undermarkmgs of "pale mouse gray," "pale Quaker drab," or 



